photo by: Courtesy of the Lawrence Police Department

Lt. David Ernst and Detective Meghan Bardwell of the Lawrence Police Department pose with their tour guides Sammy, left, and Lotfi, second from left, in Algeria in November 2026.

When Lawrence hosted the Algerian national team during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Lt. David Ernst was one of the “cops making people feel at home.” He was just doing his job.

He never expected that the Algerians would return the favor by inviting him and a few dozen other people from Lawrence to visit this week and experience their sights, culture and hospitality.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing that I never saw coming,” Ernst told the Journal-World in a phone call from Algeria on Friday.

The invitation from the government of Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune was announced about a month ago, and the delegates arrived in Algeria on Monday. Among them were Lawrence Mayor Brad Finkeldei, City Commissioner Amber Sellers, City Manager Majed Al-Ghafry, and some members of the University of Kansas band, faculty and staff. A few of the invitees also came from Elkader, Iowa, which has a sister city partnership with Mascara, Algeria.

Ernst said he and the other visitors have been treated like celebrities so far, and one has been particularly popular – his colleague, Detective Meghan Bardwell. During the World Cup, a video captured her dancing in the street with Algeria fans while directing traffic, and it went viral on social media.

photo by: Courtesy of the Lawrence Police Department

Detective Meghan Bardwell of the Lawrence Police Department holds a fennec fox in Algeria in November 2026. The fennec fox is the national animal of Algeria, and the country’s national soccer team, Les Fennecs, is nicknamed after it.

“She has definitely attained celebrity status,” Ernst said. No matter where they go, he said, people want to meet her, and they recognize her from the video – “Hey, you’re the one who was dancing in the street!”

Of course, Bardwell has gotten the chance to show off her dance moves on the trip, Ernst said.

“She is definitely the star of the show,” he said.

The Journal-World asked if women in law enforcement like Bardwell are a rarity in Algeria, and Ernst said that’s not the case at all. “I’ve seen quite a few female LEOs,” he said, including one in their security detail.

In that and many other ways, Algerians and Americans have a lot more in common than they might think, he said. “There’s much more similarities than there are really differences.”

Bardwell told police spokeswoman Laura McCabe, who’s been in touch with them throughout the trip, that she was constantly surrounded by microphones and cameras, and that she now knows how Taylor Swift must feel. She much prefers her work as a detective over that.

“However, they are having the time of their lives,” McCabe said. “They have every moment scheduled. The sites have been inspiring and the food has been incredible.”

In the capital, they took a boat tour in the Bay of Algiers; saw the Great Mosque of Algiers, which is the largest mosque in Africa and the third-largest in the world; and visited Notre Dame d’Afrique, a Catholic cathedral on a hill overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. “It was absolutely beautiful,” Ernst said.

Their itinerary also took them to Tipaza, another coastal city that in ancient times was a Punic port and then a part of the Roman Empire. Ernst was impressed by the history of the Royal Mausoleum of Mauretania, which is where Cleopatra’s daughter was allegedly buried.

photo by: Courtesy of the Lawrence Police Department

Lt. David Ernst and Detective Meghan Bardwell of the Lawrence Police Department are pictured at the Royal Mausoleum of Mauretania in Algeria in November 2026.

As for the food, Ernst said “it takes a lot of time” to have a proper meal in Algeria.

The meals have been big, with multiple courses. Couscous is always on the table, and Algerians drink a lot of fruit juices and their own brands of soda – Hamoud, which he said tastes like lemon-flavored soda water with a little sweetness, and Selecto, which is “like Coca-Cola but less sweet with a hint of apple.”

About the only complaint Ernst has is with the coffee. “Coffees here are very small,” he said, basically just like a shot of espresso. “I’m looking forward to returning and getting an American-sized cup of coffee!”

Wherever they go, the Algerians have been nothing but kind to them, Ernst said. He can’t speak much to what the future holds for Lawrence’s relationship with Algeria, such as a possible sister city partnership with an Algerian city; he doesn’t see that as his department.

But he does think that Algeria will have lifelong friends in Lawrence after this year’s events, and Lawrence will have lifelong friends in Algeria, too. And, when asked what the greatest thing he seen on the trip was, he said it was “how much we’ve been embraced.”

“It has been nothing but graciousness,” Ernst said. “They’ve been the greatest hosts.”

photo by: Courtesy of the Lawrence Police Department

Detective Meghan Bardwell of the Lawrence Police Department is pictured in Algeria in November 2026.

photo by: Courtesy of the Lawrence Police Department

Detective Meghan Bardwell of the Lawrence Police Department is pictured in Algeria in November 2026.