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French police come to the Paris of the Plains for unique training opportunity

Posted at 5:26 PM, Sep 28, 2016
and last updated 2016-09-28 18:26:14-04

Most of what Lt. Gabrielle Peseux knows about officers in America comes from Hollywood blockbusters. Now she's learning first hand what it's like to be one of the men and women in blue.

"When I was in the car with my fellow police officer, I was speaking English, they are speaking English, but after that it could be in France, really," said Peseux.

While Peseux is the first officer from the Limoux, France Police Department to get on-the-ground training from the Grandview Police Department, the exchange isn't a first for Grandview. In the past, the department has hosted officers from the Czech Republic, Luxembourg, and Greece.

 

 

"We are dealing with the same people," said Peseux. "We encounter the same problems within the population. The course is pretty much the same. It's the same."

The week-long exercise is more of an exchange than a one-way learning opportunity because Grandview officers will pass on some of their knowledge to French officers. They'll also implement some the French officers' ways of doing things in their own department.

"I hope they will see how we do things and we have already seen how they do things and put those things together and it's a unique experience for all of us," said Sgt. Greg Smith of Grandview. "That's what we want to do - for all of us to come together and share what we do."

After all the world is more interconnected now than it ever has been, and maybe police departments should be too.

"It's not the first for Grandview but it is the first for us, and I think we really would like to continue this partnership for many more several years," said Peseux.

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Terra Hall can be reached at terra.hall@kshb.com.

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