Training for a new beat: Baghdad

They've policed the meanest streets of Philadelphia, where the murder rate ranks among the highest of the nation's big cities.

They've been dispatched to shootings and stabbings, chased suspects on foot and pursued them in squad cars.

And now, the three Philadelphia officers have been called to duty on the streets and in the prisons of a more violent city - Baghdad - where they'll teach their skills to Iraqis, Philly-style.

Joined by law-enforcement officers from such places as Yeadon, Allentown and York, the Army Reservists are training at Fort Dix in Burlington County for a crucial job that Pentagon officials hope will allow them to draw down U.S. troops this summer to pre-surge levels.

"I've seen a lot" in North Philadelphia, said Officer Chris Smith, of the city's 35th Police District, as he prepared to enter a wooded area of the fort last week for a land-navigation exercise.

"Sometimes, it's more dangerous in Philadelphia than it is in Iraq."

Smith, a Reserve staff sergeant who served in Baghdad, Mosul and Kuwait in 2003 and 2004, said he and Philadelphia officers William Phillips and Daniel Bowe won't simply be teaching Iraqis how to "protect and serve."

They'll train them to be correctional guards in charge of dangerous detainees, and how to run route security for supply convoys.

The men, scheduled to leave late this month for a year of duty, are among scores in recent years who have temporarily left area police departments and correctional facilities for Iraq.

More than 200,000 Iraqis have been recruited as police officers and soldiers, and they are increasingly taking up security responsibilities once held by Americans. But Pentagon officials say conditions on the ground will dictate how long U.S. troops remain in Iraq and at what strength.

"We'll be showing them the basics," said Smith, 36, of Northeast Philadelphia. "They'll have to take it from there and incorporate their own laws."

Despite obvious geographic and cultural differences, the officer said he sees similarities between police work in Philadelphia and his job in Iraq.

"It's still an urban environment," he said. "The Iraqis will have to do normal policing and work with the U.S. military. I did the same kind of work when I was there the last time, putting in 14- to 16-hour days."

Among the "high-value detainees" Smith met there four years ago was Saddam Hussein.

"Last time, it was more pins and needles," said Smith, one of about 140 members of the Army Reserve's 744th Military Police Battalion headquartered in Bethlehem.

"You didn't know what to expect with all the IEDs [improvised explosive devices] and small arms fire. This time, hopefully, it won't be as bad."

As Smith headed out in a humvee, fellow Philadelphia officer William Phillips trudged into one of the fort's no-frills buildings after a five-mile walk through the woods. He was loaded down with an M-16 and about 40 pounds of other equipment.

Phillips, 32, who lives in the city's East Oak Lane section, said much of the group's work in Baghdad will be showing the Iraqis how to run prisons.

"They'll do it, but we'll show them," said the 39th District police officer, who patrols the Hunting Park section. "Learning how to do this correctly is very important. You don't want atrocities."

His Philadelphia experience will help him sensitize Iraqi trainees to the security needs of their community, including how to "show respect for the rights of civilians," Phillips said.

"This whole mission is so they can take care of themselves - and [the United States] can come home," he said.

Though he is used to placing himself at risk, Phillips said, Baghdad poses unique dangers.

In Philadelphia, "police officers are not usually a target," he said. "But in Iraq we are the target. [Insurgents] plant IEDs specifically for us."

Seated near Phillips in the makeshift lounge was Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Bowe, who had also returned from a few hours in the woods, a far cry from his usual patrol of the city's 24th District, which includes Kensington, Juniata and Port Richmond.

The brotherhood he has with fellow soldiers is every bit as strong as what he feels with police, he said.

"They're family," said Bowe, 22, of the city's Bridesburg section. "We have the same things in common, the same [American flag] patch on the right shoulder, and 'U.S. Army' on our chest."

Army Spec. Bowe, a medic in the unit, said he will use team-building skills learned in the police department and military to teach medical classes and policing in Baghdad.

"It will be a change of life, but this is what reservists do," said Bowe, who is married and has a 20-month-old son. "I'm not looking forward to being away from home, but the mission is essential."

Yeadon Police Officer Danielle Modglin agreed: It won't be easy "going from the streets to the sandbox," she said.

"I'm having trouble with the Arabic language, but I'm working on it," said the 25-year-old Collingdale resident, as she took the wheel of a humvee. "Being female can be more challenging. I'm used to getting respect here, but females don't get respect there."

Modglin, who graduated from the police academy in January, has no trouble putting her difficulties into perspective.

"I'm protecting the American way of life at home or wherever it is challenged," she said. "You know what you're fighting for."