THE long arm of the law has extended across the world to Swindon this week, with a visit by police officers from the Far East.

Senior Supt Catalino Rodriguez Jr and Supt Ranier Idio of the Philippines National Police force along with Supt Hoong Wee Teck of the Singapore Police were in Swindon to find out more about community policing methods used in the town.

Talking to the Advertiser, Supt Idio said his officers faced many different problems to their colleagues in Wiltshire.

He said: "In the Philippines we are not dealing with drunkenness and criminal damage.

"Our main problems are physical violence, homicide and then theft.

"But crime is also very low in our country. We only have 15 crimes for every 100,000 people and our criminal justice system is very effective. We do not have magistrates or a judge and jury system. Judges have the final decision."

Supt Teck said: "British policing is not very different to the rest of the world but there are some differences.

"In Singapore we are one of the safest cities in the world and everyday we are dealing with many crimes, from physical violence to drug trafficking because of where we are in the region.

"We take a strict line on crime, even people littering and spitting out chewing gum will get very large fines."

All three officers were in Swindon to find out more about the town's community policing and the town's Police Community Support Officers.

The Community Support Officers help regular police officers on patrols

Supt Ranier said: "We have been very impressed with the idea of having such community support officers in different areas particularly in towns.

"I think it is something we would like to set up in the Philippines."

Supt Teck said: "One of the best lessons we have learnt from our trip is the idea of having community policing and making sure that the police have a better presence in areas of our towns."

All three officers are visiting the UK as part of a 10-week training course at Centrex, in Bramshill, Hampshire.

They are among eight senior police officers from countries as diverse as Botswana, St Kitts and Nevis, India and Indonesia who are visiting Wiltshire Constabulary as part of their course.

Crime file

Singapore's strict rules make it one of the safest cities in the world. While its citizens enjoy one of the world's highest standards of living there is a system of punishments for acts such as busking without a licence or not flushing a public lavatory.

Dropping rubbish and even chewing gum are also crimes, punishable by large fines. And last year the Government introduced fines for people who allow mosquitoes to breed in their homes to fight of dengue fever.

The Philippines are a located over 7,000 islands but the bulk of the population lives on just 11 of them. Over the last few years, the country has become a hotbed of hi-tech crime.

In 2001, the country's long-standing gun culture was reversing as a result of tough restrictions on the carrying and ownership of firearms.

Anthony Osborne