Gibraltar’s International Police Association (IPA) hosted several of its international counterparts during its first regional meeting last weekend.

IPA presidents and vice presidents from Luxembourg, Ireland, the Netherlands, Italy, San Marino, Monaco, Switzerland and the UK attended the gathering, which was held in the Rock’s IPA Club near New Mole House.

One of the aims of the visit was to build closer ties between international police forces and the RGP, whilst promoting training opportunities, sharing policing contacts and expertise.

The group had lunch and listened to guest speakers before the visitors - none of whom had visited Gibraltar before - enjoyed a complimentary tour of the Rock provided by Blands Travel and the Gibraltar Tourist Board.

Ben Bentley, President of the IPA Gibraltar Branch and a serving officer of the Royal Gibraltar Police, said: “I wish to say a big thank to my committee for their hard work, the Commissioner of the RGP Richard Ullger for his continued support, speaker Karen Duckworth, retired president Maurice Napoli and the staff at No.6 - who all helped make the visit run smoothly from beginning to end.”

The International Police Association is a friendship organisation for police officers, whether serving or retired.

It was founded in 1950 by English police sergeant Arthur Troop.

There are around 369,000 members in 68 countries on six continents, making the IPA the largest police association in the world.

For more information on the IPA Gibraltar section, visit https://ipa-gibraltar.gi