QUINCY, Ill. (AP) - Members of the Quincy Police Department and city government sadly said goodbye to the department’s newest officer.
Stefan Schott, 31, of Frankfurt, Germany, began interning with the Quincy police Nov. 20, and his final day of duty was Dec. 6. Eddie Bogue, police chief in Palmyra, Mo., is responsible for pairing Schott with the Quincy police.
“I was able to attend the FBI National Academy in 2011, and I became friends with a German police officer while at the academy. He reached out to me last December to ask if I could maybe help him out with an internship,” Bogue said. “I said absolutely. I thought this would be something very good for the community and for the police departments, as well. So I did everything possible to make it happen. We were just fortunate that it could all work out.”
Schott has been living with Bogue and his family for the past three weeks. In Germany, it takes three years to train as a police officer. An international internship is not required for training; however, the opportunity to intern in the U.S. arose, and Schott took advantage of it. He is almost finished with training and will graduate in July 2018.
Schott has done a variety of tasks while interning at the Quincy Police Department.
“During (training), they also work the streets,” Quincy Police Chief Rob Copley said. “So he has a real working knowledge of police work, and he was able to work with our officers, ride with our officers and see how we do things.
“I’m very pleased that we had a chance to work with Stefan in this capacity. It’s been a very good opportunity for him and us.”
Schott said there were minute differences between the way officers in Germany work and how officers in the U.S. work.
“You have little tools that make work way easier for you,” Scott said of U.S. police work. “You’re allowed to have a cellphone with you on duty, and the police here are allowed to dictate reports on the cellphone, and somebody else writes the reports for them.
“We don’t have that at all. For us, we spend way more time at headquarters to write our reports, while here, people are on the streets more and can help the public more. Maybe these are little things I can bring to the table back home, and hopefully they will change a few things.”
As a goodbye present, Copley gave Schott a Glock key chain — German officers don’t carry Glock firearms — a Police Department “Back the Blue” shirt and bag, and a department blanket.
“I had some awesome days over here. The people in the Midwest and here are very friendly,” Schott said. “Despite the small differences between police work, all in all, we’re all policemen.”
“I think he’s going to have a very bright future in policing when he gets back home,” Bogue said.
Quincy Mayor Kyle Moore hopes the city will host other international police interns in the future.
“We have a very strong sister city relationship with Herford, Germany, and we do a lot of exchanges with high school students, internships with college students, and we’re very happy to take this to another level,” More said. “We hope we get this opportunity again.”
He added that Schott is welcome back.
“We hope you know that you always have a home in Quincy, Ill.,” Moore said.
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Source: The Quincy Herald-Whig
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Information from: The Quincy Herald-Whig, http://www.whig.com
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