An important benefit of membership is the ability to host police officers from throughout the United States and the from other countries. Hosting can be as simple as merely providing information to a visitor, providing a ride-along or providing other opportunities to visit police facilities or meet fellow officer, to picking someone up at the airport, inviting them home for dinner, or letting them use a spare room at our home. It is entirely up to you as to when you will host and what hosting activities you will provide at any time. 

IPA R-6 does not respond to direct requests for IPA assistance even for IPA members. If you are an IPA member looking to find hosting in Region 6, you must make your Travel Arrangements through the appropriate Region Secretary or the respective Associate Secretary. 

Some Recent visitors to IPA Region 6.

Joosep Kaasik is a high ranking official (Colonel/Prefect) of the Eetsi Politsei- ja Piirivalveamet / the Estonian Police and Border Guard. He is in charge of law enforcement in the capital of Estonia,Tallinn, as well as the region outside of the city. Estonia is one of the three former Soviet Baltic states in Northern Europe, having gained their independence in from the former Soviet Union in 1988-1990. His responsibilities include law enforcement in Tallinn and the region outside, criminal investigation, border guard as well as immigration services. 

Colonel Kaasik, his wife Evelyn, and 11-year old stepdaughter Anita, started their trip of just shy of one month, by travelling by air to the east coast of the United States on June 23rd. They spent four days in New York City, traveled by train to Washington, D.C. where they stayed three days, drove a rental car to Chicago where they stayed for three days, took the California Zephyr to Emeryville, Alameda County in the SF Bay area, and spent the night, while getting a taste of San Francisco. On July 6, they drove from Emeryville to the L.A. area, arriving the morning of July 7th after spending the night in Santa Barbara. Colonel Kaasik had requested meetings with IPA colleagues and law enforcement officials to discuss law enforcement issues and compare them with those in his home country. He was also looking to establish law enforcement contacts for future networking.

A week ago Friday, on July 7, IPA Region 6 3rd Vice President Tom Bushery, himself a retired federal agent with the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, had graciously volunteered to pick up Colonel Kaasik at his hotel in Hollywood and to drive him in his personal vehicle to LASD’s Special Operations Division in East Los Angeles where Joosep had a 1300 hours appointment with LASD Division Chief Jack W. Ewell, head of the Sheriff’s Special Operations Division. This meeting was made possible thanks to the, once again, invaluable assistance of Region 6 member Rod Kusch. himself a retired LASD Commander. Many thanks Rod!!Chief Ewell is a United States Marine Corps veteran, having received multiple combat action ribbons and the Bronze Star for his service and actions while in the Corps; Semper Fi, Sir! He oversees special operations and many elite units for all of Los Angeles County, units that have become the gold-standard nationwide for law enforcement, emergency response and specialized tactics. Chief Ewell has been involved with LASD’s elite Special Enforcement Bureau (SWAT) since first joining them as an operator in 1984. SEB is a full-time unit that consists of five details: Special Enforcement Detail, Canine Detail, Emergency Services Detail, Arson 

Explosives’ detail, and HazMat Detail. He has also overseen Sheriff Emergency Operations, Aero Bureau, Metrolink, and the Sheriff’s Transit Services Bureau.
On July 7, Chief Ewell took time out from his, no doubt busy schedule, and met Colonel Kaasik and Tom in his office where he gave the Colonel an overview of the responsibilities of the Special Operations Division, followed by a general discussion. The chief then had organized some of his SEB deputies to give the colonel a demonstration of their various weapons and equipment, followed by a tour of the SEB East L.A. 

facility. At the conclusion of their visit, the division chief and the colonel said their goodbyes and Tom drove Joosep back to his hotel. Many thanks Chief Ewell!!

On that ride back, I had an opportunity to speak to Colonel Kaasik by phone and it was obvious by his reaction that he was very appreciative of his meeting with Chief Ewell, their discussion, and the demonstration he was given. He described it as outstanding and extremely informative. That evening, Tom and his wife met Colonel Kaasik, his wife and stepdaughter, once again at his hotel, and drove them to Beverly Hills where Tom had arranged for a dinner at the Hideaway Restaurant on Rodeo Drive. Many thanks for all your efforts that day, Tom!!

Colonel Kaasik, his wife and stepdaughter spent July 8th in Disneyland and drove to Las Vegas on July 9th. After spending time there and at the Grand Canyon, they are currently visiting other national parks on their way back to San Francisco. They depart home to Tallinn, Estonia from there on July 19, 2023

Ralf Steinbrink and Klaus Giesing – who work together at Landespolizei Rheinland-Pfalz in Mainz, Germany, flew in from Frankfurt, via Raleigh, NC and San Diego, and made it to San Francisco on 04 JUL 23. After a quick one day in SF, they drove a rental car southbound and spent the night in Morro Bay on 05 JUL. They arrived in Hollywood yesterday on 06 JUL and visited the Griffith Observatory. This morning, 07 JUL, I set them both up for separate patrol rides with LASD East L.A. station who were, as usual, very accommodating, and which, they both described as “awesome”

At the conclusion of their ride this morning, I met them around noon on Sepulveda Blvd, just off the 110 / Harbor Freeway. They then followed me to Kings’ Hawaiian Restaurant in Torrance where we had lunch and did a lot of chatting about police work! (see attached pic on the bottom) 

Afterwards, I guided them to the southbound 405 / San Diego Freeway and they are now on their way to San Diego in order to attend the ESRI User, as well as Safety and Security summit conference from 08-14 JUL before flying home! Esri is a U.S. multinational geographic information system software company. I know Region 23, via Rick Ellington, has some activities planned for them in San Diego on their off days from the conference!

John Prins R6 IPA with Ralf Steinbrink and Klaus Giesing

On May 18, Thomas Stark (a police officer with the Kantonspolizei Thurgau / Thurgau State Police in Switzerland, and currently a supervisor in their dispatch center) met Kevin, as well as LAPD Captain Smith at the LAPD Academy in Elysian Park where he received a tour, including the shooting range, and had breakfast in the academy’s café.  

Kevin then drove Thomas to LAPD’s new Metropolitan Communications Dispatch Center (MCDC) on North Los Angeles Street, within walking distance of LAPD headquarters, both in the downtown civic center complex. Thomas received a tour and briefing from one of LAPD’s police service representatives/911 dispatchers, Brandy, and then was able to sit next to a working PSR where he could monitor incoming calls as well as calls being dispatched to units in the field via the computer aided dispatch (CAD) system. Thomas said this was extremely beneficial to him since this is his primary job responsibility (as well as train new dispatchers) back home in Thurgau.  

Following this, Kevin took Thomas inside LAPD Headquarters on West 1st Street, as well as to LAPD’s Central Division on East 6th Street. He was able to tour both facilities and walk away with souvenirs from all four faculties visited that morning. For the afternoon, Kevin gave Thomas the address of the LAPD Museum on York Blvd in Highland Park which he was able to visit and explore.  

Thomas called it a “very exiting day for me”

On Sunday, May 21, Kevin invited Thomas to his residence where Kevin and his wife Connie hosted a Bar-B-Que lunch for Thomas. 

Thomas is now back at work in Switzerland however, told me he had a great time during his visit to L.A.!

Thomas Stark at LAPD Academy

Thomas Stark with Kevin and Connie Coffey

New Zealand Police member Karel “Karl” Dulver participated in a ride-along on Sat 06 May 23 at LASD East L.A. station and rode with Deputy Tamayo (see pics)

Karel wrote me this morning:

“It was a very cool experience with Deputy Tamayo- and was great chatting to him about his role, and similarities / differences between the two countries.

Deputy Tamayo, Karel’s partner on ride-along

Western Australia Police Detective Sergeant Bernie McGuire and his significant other, Marina Brodrick, traveled by cruise ship from Brisbane, Australia to Honolulu, Hi. They then flew from Honolulu to LAX. Bernie is the Cold Case supervisor of the Perth, Western Australia Homicide unit.

Thanks to the generous and invaluable assistance of Region 6 member / retired LASD Commander Rod Kusch, Bernie and Marina met up with LASD Homicide / Cold Case Detective Joe Purcell on the morning of Thu, 04 May at LASD Homicide Bureau in Monterey Park to discuss cold case investigations (see pic #1). In the early afternoon of that same day, Bernie and Marina were driven to LASD East L.A. station by Joe. Marina then was taken by a East L.A. Patrol deputy on a ride-a-long and witnessed an arrest for a retraining order violation (see pic #2), while Bernie was partnered up with East L.A. Detective Mike Lugo (who happens to be Joe Purcell’s son) and taken on his own ride-along of East L.A (see pic #3). But that’s not all! Prior to all of this on 02 May, Rod Kusch went out of his way to pick up Bernie and Marina at LAX upon their arrival there from Honolulu, and drove them to their hotel in West Hollywood!   

Yesterday, May 14, I picked up Bernie and Marian at LAX where they were arriving from their stay in Las Vegas and, prior to that, San Francisco. I took them on a ride to the Queen Mary in Long Beach, the USS Iowa in San Pedro and a drive from east to west of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. We wound up having lunch at the Lazy Dog restaurant in Torrance which turned out to be not that easy due to the Mother’s Day crowd  Afterwards, I drove them to their hotel for one night, that being the Sheraton on Century at LAX

They fly back to Perth, Australia tonight via Sydney and Melbourne

Nice folks, both of them!

I met Officer Henri Stoehr, a co-pilot/hoist operator with the German Landespolizei Bayern / Bavarian State Police Hubschrauberstaffel / Helicopter squadron and his girlfriend Johanna this morning in Long Beach. They then followed me to the Los Angeles County Aero Bureau base at Long Beach Airport at 0800 hours where they met their aircrew; Deputy Kevin Jones, the pilot, and Deputy Richard Curiel, the tactical flight deputy.

Both Henri and Johanna where taken up in one of the LASD’s airships for an approx. 3-hour flight over L.A. I had said my goodbyes and took off (not in a helicopter) for the gym by then. Afterwards, Henri texted me that they had a great time and he had gotten a lot of insight in a law enforcement air operations in the L.A. area that he could take home and share with his squadron. 

They had breakfast in Long Beach and then followed my recommendation to visit the Santa Monica Pier. Too bad the weather was kinda crappy today. They are off to Pismo Beach in Central California tomorrow, followed by San Francisco on Friday (no police activities planned) and a long flight home to Munich on Saturday.

I will write a thank you letter to the captain of LASD Aero Bureau for my appreciation to Aero Bureau’s Sgt. Rios who set up this flight at rather short notice, as well my thanks to the aircrew for taking our visitors up this morning

On Sunday, 16 APR 23, I sent Terrence and his girlfriend Milou up for a ride-along with East L.A. Sheriff which, especially she, immensely enjoyed, getting to drive code-3 in response to a call for the first time in her life. Unfortunately for him, Terrence’s ride-a-long deputy was called back into the station for a stabbing investigation which required his Spanish speaking ability to interview the victim. This took the both of them out of the field for 5-6 hours but, as we all know, those thing can happen and Terrence had a good attitude about it!

On Monday, 17 APR 23, Region 6 member Rich Roberts did an outstanding job taking Terrence and Milou to the Orange County Sheriff’s Academy in Tustin for a tour. He then took them to the Orange County Training Facility in Anaheim for a tour of their Laser Village, CSI lab and shooting range. This was followed by a visit to the Santa Ana Police Department for a tour of their indoor range, firearms library, CSI/Forensics, Detectives, fitness facility, and Terrence participating in Santa Ana’s FATS machine training scenarios. Afterwards, Rich’s wife prepared a late lunch for the four of them at Rich’s residence.

Yesterday, 21 APR 23, on their way back from San Diego where Region 23 hosting coordinator Rick Ellington took Terrence and Milou on a boat ride-a-long with the San Diego Harbor Police, as well as to the El Cajon Police Department, I met the two visitors at my old Torrance PD station, and took them to a lunch at the Lazy Dog Café. Upon conclusion, they followed me to Torrance Beach where they had some beach time on a nice spring day, before returning to Terrence’s aunt’s residence in Chatsworth in L.A.’s San Fernando Valley for a goodbye dinner (they had been staying with her during their stay in L.A.) Milou is flying back to the Netherlands today, while Terrence is on his way to Costa Rica for 3 weeks of hiking and doing eco-stuff.

My wife Maria and I met Officer Sandy and her cousin Nicole in Redondo Beach on Friday evening, took them to their first ever Mexican dinner of Enchiladas and Fajitas at El Torrito’s on the Redondo Beach Pier – they liked it, and had a nice conversation with them.

Sandy Widera works for the Landespolizei Nordrhein-Westfalen / Northrhine Westfalen State Police in Germany.

Yesterday, Sunday, they reported to East L.A Sheriff station at 1400 hrs. and both rode (in separate cars) the streets of East L.A. until 2000 hrs. They said they had a great time – I have enclosed some pics Sandy sent me

Today (Monday) Sandy drove to Vegas where she’ll be until Thursday when she drives to San Diego. Nicole flew back to San Francisco this morning where she works at the local Volkswagen plant for four months. She will meet Sandy again this Thursday in San Diego where Region 23’s Rick Ellington has a boat ride with the San Diego Harbor Police scheduled for them. They are both very nice.