Report on Poland 2006 by Shane Krajewski
Last year, while attending module III at LEMIT, I was introduced to the International Police Exchange program. In my class, we had a General from Poland. We were able to hear him talk about the differences between his country and ours. With my heritage being from Poland, I was interested in seeing for myself. I wasn't sure that the next year's trip was going to Poland but I wanted to see what differences there were in Policing in any country. This February, I found out that I was indeed one of the scholarship recipients from Sam Houston and that indeed we would be going to Poland. I had a very hectic schedule ahead of me before I would be leaving the country. I really did not anticipate anything other than the fact that I was looking forward to the trip.
July came and I flew in from a school in New Mexico and caught a flight to Warsaw. After the tiring flight, I was met by Sam Houston's wonderful director Carolyn Martinez and one of our assigned police interpreters, Major Boguslaw Jaremczak. I do not think that the Polish police could have placed any two better men to be with us than Major Boguslaw Jaremczak and Major Janusz Nabialek. As we drove through the country of Poland I was taken back by the differences in how things are. It was like going back 20 years in the United States. Things were still so much simpler over there. Upon arriving at the Police School in Slupsk, I was amazed at the hospitality of the staff as well as the commanding officers. I could only hope that in the future years, they experience the same from our country when coming over here. I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of the two week stay. I actively always participated in classroom discussions when comparing our two countries. In a lot of ways we are similar but in many ways we are not. Outside of our classroom experience, the Polish people were always trying to make our stay eventful. I cannot believe the amount of history and beauty that I was able to learn about in Poland. The trip was definitely a once in a lifetime experience and I would love to go back again and see the friends that I made and revisit all of the unique places that I was able to attend. Any officer in the LEMIT program or students in Criminal Justice can gain a valuable understanding of how the system operates around the world. In ways the Polish Police system is a better way by being unified over the United States, but they have a very low crime rate based on the 98% white catholic population. The United States is a country of highly diversified people and we need the separate police systems that we have in place. Their country is not a target of terrorists and that makes their systems that are in place work really well.
I hope that Sam Houston will always continue to have the International Exchange Program. Officers from around the globe need to be able to come together and discuss policing around the world. This program provides that opportunity. I hope that in years to come, I will be able to make another trip to another exciting country and share our knowledge on policing in the United States and come back with and greater knowledge of how it works in their country as well as new found friends in the International Police Community.
Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Link Policy | Open Records Policy | Accessibility Policy