As part of our Refugee Week Scotland celebration, a group of Maryhill Integration Network members visited the local Police station. The meeting created a great opportunity for a fruitful mutual exchange. Ann Hughes, the area commander, said she was hoping this was a serious step towards building a meaningful relationship with the network.
Strong ties
The ties between mIN and the Maryhill Police Station are already strong. Since last year mIN has been a Third Party Reporting Centre for Police Scotland thanks to Ann Hughes and community police officer Dario D’Andrea who, through his efforts and personal qualities, has become a priceless partner, well liked and respected among all network members. The commander stressed that she would encourage more officers to work closely with the group seeing it as a valuable learning opportunity.
Reassurance
The discussion revolved around the relations and attitudes towards police in different countries. Many of the dramatic stories shared by the mIN members have made a strong impression on the present officers, yet hearing them was important to enhance the understanding that some migrants may be afraid of the uniform due to bad experiences from their countries.
Ann Hughes assured the group that the Scottish police is to protect and support every individual, and that none of those negative experiences would ever happen in Scotland.
Tour
The Network members were also offered a tour around the station, during which they were explained the process of imprisoning lawbreakers. The visit to the cells provided a memorable experience, although it triggered rather unpleasant feelings. The group asked countless, sometimes difficult questions about every aspect of the police work.
One of them was whether it was possible to deal with crime on a day-to-day basis and still believe in people? It was relieving to hear that the majority of people are good and problems are caused by only small group of individuals.
