A day in the land of Dickens- To London!

I was flying back to the US through London, and it was to take place on a weekend, so my Chief of Staff (John McDonald) suggested I at LEAST see a few things in London.  It was a fantastic idea, and I'm glad I did.

It was only about a day and a half, so I decided to see Big Ben, walk by Whitehall, and eat at a five star Indian restaurant. The second day was reserved for the British Museum. OMG - this is a bucket list stop.

Enjoy!

Big Ben - cold rain

Big Ben at Night

Police Racing past Westminster Abbey

I even got to see a Royal Procession

And then there was the British Museum...

Admission has ALWAYS been free

A word here.  If you have followed this blog, or know me, then you know I am a lover of ancient things.  Most especially, ancient Anasazi things. But I will save money on a hotel to get a guide to take me to see the amazing past of a great place and Marci and I spent nearly a day at one of the greatest museums in the world (Museo de Antropologia) but walking around the British museum does make me wonder when collecting history becomes plain ole theft.  I read a GREAT book about this very notion (Craig Childs' Finders Keepers).

The people of this small island empire sure did get around. And whether theft or preservation - they amassed perhaps the greatest collection of GLOBAL HISTORY ever attempted.  The photos below are ORIGINAL works of art from every corner of the world.

EGYPT - attracts the most visitors:

So many mummies you can't count them!

The South Pacific you say?  How about Easter Island...

The Roman Empire and Early Christianity:

From a building in England

The earliest known depiction of Christ - 300 A.D

Chinese Porcelain

The Greeks

Looks like the Anasazi Effigy James found! 

English History

Shakespeare's Bust 

Even British Museum History - this was how items were first displayed

Over 6000 years old

And to finish my trip - I got a birthday/Christmas present at Henry Pordes Books (about a mile from where Charles Dickens lived and wrote) for myself!

TALE OF TWO CITIES (Published by Chapman & Hall, Piccadilly

with an inscription from 1870)

And British Airways to Denver (10.5 hours).

The upper crust cabin

Until Mexico with Joshua - UNDAUNTED!

Policing with a Kilt...

I have been back from Scotland for  almost two weeks.   It was fast, it was fun, and it was the most impactful training I've ever had as a police officer.

I have been giving it a lot of thought. And as a Deputy Chief, there are some small things I will be changing immediately to point us in the direction that Police Scotland take (and trust me, it is very impressive and thought provoking).  But I also write this a day after ANOTHER mass shooting (this one an hour's drive south in the city where I was born).

I am not going to detail what I learned (yet).  But I will share some of the great experiences I had...

Tulliallan Castle- Home of Police Scotland Training - where we stayed

                    

The 'suspect" above is armed with a knife - the officer with Pepper spray.

In Scotland, they do not use firearms when confronted by "Petrol bombs" (we call Molotov cocktails):

An amazing week.

Friday evening I took a trip to Edinburgh to shop.  Wow...go to Scotland!

A wee hop over the pond...

I have been told I am the true to life version of Forrest Gump (not sure if it's 'cause I'm a bit slow - or always in the right place at the right time?).

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago the Chief asked me to fly with a select group of US police executives to Edinburgh Scotland. The idea is to study how an unarmed police force deals with armed suspects in an attempt to see if we can reduce fatal police citizen encounters.  I thought long and hard (less than .003 seconds) and said YES!

So, here I am. Boarding a British Air flight to Edinburgh via London. I'll keep you all posted!

Scottish Police College at Tulliallan