Gendarmes in Yorkshire

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One of the delightful sights of the magical Tour de France de Yorkshire was that of French Gendarmes on motorcycles working with British officers.

It was really good to see this working together. The Job is essentially the same the world over. In my police career I worked for short but intense spells in France and Belgium to very good effect.

 My favourite foreign police anecdote was on entry to Tunisia for a holiday. On the plane you had to fill in an entry form which called for 'profession'. Throwing caution to the wind I put 'Police Officer'. At the desk was a fierce looking cop with a gun and dozens of bullets on a belt across his chest in case one was not enough. He glowered at the incoming passengers ahead of me.  On reading my form his face lit up.    Through garlic breath he said, "Welcome colleague".