LANCASHIRE police officers were meeting up with their 'twins' from the States today to exchange crime-fighting techniques.

The constabulary staged the sixth annual problem-oriented partnership conference with San Diego Police Department as special guests at Blackpool's Hilton Hotel.

Last month, the forces announced a twinning arrangement to keep exchanging ideas after a successful conference in America in November.

This brought back memories of the California-based police show, Chips, which ended in 1983 after 138 episodes.

Despite the nostalgia, the move was heralded by police as an effective way to learn new crime-prevention techniques.

Lancashire police officers were giving 13 presentations today on issues such as drugs, football hooligans, alcohol abuse, prostitution and arson.

Talks by a professor and social psychologist were also scheduled.

All the discussions focused around problem-oriented policing, where attempts are made to tackle to root causes of incidents, rather than just solving the crime.

Chief Constable Paul Stephenson said: "Here in Lancashire we place great importance on the problem solving approach to policing.

"This will be clearly illustrated at our conference, which will also give some of our partners and colleagues from other services the chance to study some of our models."

Guests from San Diego included its Assistant Chief of Police, Rulette Armstead, Captain Sarah Creighton and Sergeant Chuck Kay.