Filipino Police Impressed By Wrexham’s ‘Model Community’

A recent fact finding visit to Wrexham and other areas of North Wales by a team of police officers from the Philippines has been commented on in the Far East.

The full article (readable here in full) gives an insight to the trip, noting “a 12-member study group on a weeklong immersion with the North Wales Police last month. The group was tasked with producing a community policing blueprint or tool kit that could be applied to the Bangsamoro or elsewhere in the Philippines.”

The trip included visits to the St Asaph HQ, as well as visits to Wrexham Police Station, Wrexham’s CCTV centre and Caia Park.

The outside view of the fact finding mission includes insight such as to highlight how UK police see offenders as ‘customers’, and that the reception area of a police station could be mistaken ‘for that of a corporate office rather than a jail facility’. A ‘first world’ policing culture was referred to, with ‘Mercedes Benz for police cars’ noted.

Wrexham was highlighted when the group “…visited a massive central command in Wrexham, where emergency calls are received and where various parts and establishments are monitored by high-definition security cameras.

“Here, the Philippine group saw how a duty officer can control the CCTV cameras to focus on a street, an establishment or a person of interest. Shops have radios to alert the police about shoplifting, riots or other untoward incidents. From the control room, the police can track down the offenders and make arrests.”

The visit to Caia was seen as a ‘showcase’ described as “an impoverished community previously torn by racial tensions and crime but has now been transformed into a model community, and where the police perform not only law enforcement but also social work.”

In Wrexham town, the Philippine group was ‘impressed by how the police went to great lengths to secure the communities’.

The study tour was part of the community policing project for the Bangsamoro in Mindanao funded by the British Council, the UK’s international organization for cultural relations.

In response to the article North Wales Police Deputy Chief Constable Gareth Pritchard said “We were pleased to facilitate the visit which focused heavily on community policing issues.

“I am glad that they felt there was such value in visiting North Wales Police.”