Gypsy police officers band together to beat prejudice in the force
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Version 0 of 1. When the words Gypsy, Roma, Traveller and police feature in the same sentence, it is usually in reference to some confrontation. The news last week that the Metropolitan police is conducting an investigation into allegations that officers used a secret online forum to air racist views about members of those communities is just the latest example of the depth of the problem. Now, an organisation of GRT police officers is hoping to challenge public perceptions and provide a network for fellow officers, who have often felt isolated in their job. This month sees the first anniversary of the formation of the Gypsy Roma Traveller Police Association (GRTPA). Formed by a handful of officers, it now has a membership of 105 police staff across 23 of the 43 forces in England and Wales, and Scotland. Members range from a young Romany dog-handler in Kent to an experienced sergeant in Humberside. Growing up, I knew that there was an issue between the community and the police without really understanding why “There is an old Romany saying – Gel on pukker nixes – which means ‘move on and say nothing’,” says Jim Davies, a police constable at Thames Valley police and executive director and driving force behind the GRTPA. “That worked for many centuries as a survival strategy, but not any more.” Davies, who joined the police in 1994, grew up on a caravan site near Banbury in Oxfordshire where his father had a successful tarmac business. But Davies was conscious at an early age that his parents tried to distance him from the community. “It was a protective mechanism,” he says, sitting in the Banbury police station canteen. “Parents will go to quite some lengths to almost ‘de-Gypsify’ their children. You grow up knowing that people will regard you differently, particularly if you live on a site. “Growing up, I knew that there was an issue between the Gypsy and Traveller community and the police without really understanding why,” he says. Nevertheless, he joined Thames Valley police, after finding himself unfulfilled by work in a bank and in car sales. Initially, he was conscious of the casual attitudes towards Gypsies and Travellers among some officers, whether in the use of derogatory terms like “pikey” or “gyppo” or the general perception of them as criminals. He eventually raised the issue with his senior management, and this led – with the backing of the Police Federation – to an employment tribunal last year at which he claimed he had been subject to racial discrimination through the behaviour of fellow officers. A non-financial settlement was reached, which neither side is allowed to discuss in detail. But it resulted in an independent review of how Thames Valley police engages with GRT communities, and is due to be published shortly. A year earlier, Davies had decided to seek out other serving officers from his community in the police force. “You can think you’re the only Gypsy Traveller police officer,” he says. A sergeant who had done a lot of work in the area told him he was aware of seven in Surrey. “They had all told him there was no way he was allowed to ‘out’ them.” In late 2013, a meeting under the auspices of what was then the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) – now the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) – examined the issue of police relations with the community. There Davies met Petr Torak, an officer with Cambridgeshire police, who had come to Britain as a teenager with his family as refugees from the Czech Republic at a time , in 1999, when Roma there were being attacked by skinheads and far-right groups. Torak, who had always wanted to be a police officer, spoke little English when he arrived but was encouraged by his father to seek a job in the police. He joined in 2006. “My life mission is promoting the police as a career [to the GRT community],” says Torak, who has just been awarded an MBE for his work with the GRT community in Peterborough. “We have to deal with a very negative media which suggests that all Roma are beggars and thieves.” At this gathering, the idea was born to “start our own association and challenge that stereotype that sees us as criminals”, says Davies. The official launch in parliament was hosted by Labour MP Andy Slaughter, now shadow justice minister. Full membership is open to all from those backgrounds, honorary membership being available to supporters within the police service. An email was sent to all police forces. Many of those who got in touch were reluctant to be identified. Davies likens their situation to that of gay officers 20 years ago, when he first joined the police. Since those days, and the formation of gay police organisations, gay police officers have marched in uniform on gay pride marches and reached the rank of chief constable. “You have two groups who, on the surface, aren’t visible,” he says. “When I joined, it was still unusual to be openly gay in the police, and I heard stories from a few years earlier of physical attacks on gay officers. What they have achieved has given me a lot of heart. I’m not saying the police is perfect now in the way it treats gay people, but there has been a huge improvement in quite a short period of time. I don’t see why the same can’t be achieved for us.” He hopes that more and more colleagues will feel free to be open about their backgrounds. “You can sense a nervousness about admitting it publicly. People will say, ‘My dad was a Gypsy, that’s why I’m interested’ – and I’ll say, ‘That makes you a Gypsy then!’ You can understand it. If you go back hundreds of years, being recognised as a Gypsy meant death.” Even today, many in the community are reluctant to identify themselves as such. In the 2011 census, 58,000 people identified themselves as Gypsy or Irish Traveller, although the true figure is thought to be many times that number. Prejudice is still common, says Davies, whether it is being followed round a store by security staff or being barred from a pub. He shows me a photo of a sign at a Worcestershire caravan site that says: “No loud music, no Travellers, all dogs must be kept on leads.” One of the biggest recent clashes involving police and Travellers came in 2011 at Dale Farm in Essex. There were violent exchanges around the eviction of families from the site, which led to 34 arrests. “Things like that don’t help because the coverage of it tends not to go into the fact that there are many families who are homeless, and local councils are loth to provide adequate accommodation because of the feeling of their constituents and the fuss that it will cause.” The police service in general and Thames Valley in particular have been very supportive of the association, says Davies. The Police Federation is helping to organise the GRTPA’s first national conference in November. Mark Watson, a former police inspector who liaises between the NPCC and GRTPA, says that the police nationally were very appreciative of the new association. “Trevor Phillips, when he was the chair of the Commission for Racial Equality, said that prejudice against the community was ‘the last acceptable form of racism’ and, sadly, that’s probably still the case – so I don’t blame people for being reluctant to identify themselves,” Watson says. “We want to try and change that.” The association has also been welcomed by the community from which it sprung. Matt Brindley, policy and research manager of the Traveller Movement, which aims to involve the GRT community in decision-making processes at a national policy level, says the association’s existence has already “dramatically improved how Thames Valley, Cheshire and Humberside police – to name but a few” engage with the wider community. Police officers can now be seen as “role models challenging the negative stereotypes too often seen in the media”, he says. For Davies, Torak and the growing number of colleagues, like dog-handler Kate West in Kent and police sergeant Tracey Chaney in Humberside, the time when they felt they had to “move on and say nothing” has clearly passed. “In 26 years in the police I never thought I would see the day when there was an organisation like this, so I’m very proud to be a member,” saysChaney, who is a director of the association. “I didn’t feel able to tell colleagues about my background until about two or three years ago. I’m visible, but I know there are others in the organisation and in the police who don’t feel able to be yet.” The GRTPA website carries testimonials from serving officers recounting their experiences. Here are two, the first from a former decorated soldier. “The month I left the military I visited my grandparents who had stopped at a site, taking with me my prized medals along with the union flag I had brought in a charity raffle held for a friend who died in service. Leaving my grandfather’s site I was stopped by the police, they searched my car and upon finding the medal asked me: ‘Who have you stolen this from?’ My reply, ‘Her Majesty’, reflected the attitude of the officers. Needless to say they appeared rather embarrassed when they found my military ID card and compared that to my name engraved on the side of the medal. Ironic as within less than a week I was about to swap that military ID card for a police warrant card. The examples of racism towards GRT people and communities during my time in the police have been frequent, offensive and unchallenged, much to my shame. After eight years of silence, I decided to join another constabulary and be proactive in promoting my heritage. I can honestly say that the people who are aware I am a Gypsy have made no derogatory remarks in front of me.” “Control room calls up, a shoplifting in progress, two female shoplifters, any units free? Silence. Repeat, shoplifting in progress, any units free to deal, shop staff believe they are Travellers. Suddenly, four units are available and all sorts of people offering ‘backup’ for two unnamed/unconfirmed women!” |