Richie's Police Report

So thats me been here since Sunday night.  Its been a bit hectic sorting out all the admin that goes with this gig and it really dawned on me today that I am here to live.  How did that particular penny drop, you might well ask -  well, it was when I spent my last $20 on an oven glove and role of tin foil cause I needed those key items more than I needed beer!  Domesticity, eh? Shopping has been one of the first experiences that has set out for me that America is different to Scotland.  First, nobody seems to go shopping without a Starbucks coffee in their non trolley pushing hand.  In fact, I’ve discovered that most people do very little around Washington without a Starbucks cup in their hand!  This is a wee issue for me, not being a coffee drinker and all, so I sought to blend in on my second visit with a cup of Starbucks peppermint tea in my mitt, I think I got away with it in the store mainly by not getting so close enough to my fello...

Hello! I'm Richie and I am a Scottish police officer.  I am also a Fulbright Scholar. Fulbright is a study exchange programme which allows British students and professionals the opportunity to study in the USA and offers American citizens the chance to study here.  I have been really fortunate in gaining this opportunity, and it is one I am very much looking forward to. This photo is this years group of Fulbrighters and was taken when we were being entertained at the  American Ambassadors home in London earlier this year.  They are a great bunch of people and have a really diverse range of interests from medicine, science and engineering to poetry and, of course, policing. My studies relate to ethical decision making within the police service and how that may vary between rural and urban police forces in the States. To find out if that is the case, I am about to head over to Washington DC, where I will be based for the next five and a half months...