Police must recruit Gypsies

[Lockhouse]

Sorry - I've got no time for them - in general they're a mobile crime wave. Seen it wiv' me own eyes.

[Peoplesoft bloke]

Good grief, what happened to the stabbety stab Xoggoth we used to know?

Have you started wearing sandals and loving your neighbours?

It's the Muslim Gypos that worry me - had a couple here last week wanting to Jihad my driveway

[Alf W]

Oh joy! How did I/we miss this?

The Daily Mail initiated a ludicrously loaded poll "Should the NHS allow Gypsies to jump the queue?" - result, upto 96% 'Yes' vote at one point!

I'll be in on the next vote.

[wobbegong]

Gents, calm down. It'll never happen.

Move along now, nothing to see here . . . .

[PRC1964]

Having seen various groups round here, including a couple of well behaved ones, I suspect that travellers are a fairly diverse group with their own class system. The ones who don't want a lot of trouble stay well clear of the ones who do.

Good grief, what happened to the stabbety stab Xoggoth we used to know?

Have you started wearing sandals and loving your neighbours?

[xoggoth]

Having seen various groups round here, including a couple of well behaved ones, I suspect that travellers are a fairly diverse group with their own class system. The ones who don't want a lot of trouble stay well clear of the ones who do.

[Ardesco]

I used to suffer from the same prejudices as you do, but after meeting some travelers (in the late 1980s when I worked for a newspaper), learned that they school their kids as best they can.

They were all fully literate. One family I briefly knew had a full set of Dickens and ensured that all the kids read Ransome's 'Swallows and Amazons'.

You are more likely to find illiterates on the sprawling council estates of England than you are within the traveling community.

Not to mention almost all travellers kids are blindingly good at maths. the more cynical among us may say that this is due to all the swindles they do with money, but to be fair if you fall for it you probably deserve it

[jmo21]

I used to suffer from the same prejudices as you do, but after meeting some travelers (in the late 1980s when I worked for a newspaper), learned that they school their kids as best they can.

They were all fully literate. One family I briefly knew had a full set of Dickens and ensured that all the kids read Ransome's 'Swallows and Amazons'.

You are more likely to find illiterates on the sprawling council estates of England than you are within the traveling community.

bollocks, I've seen Snatch, and I know what's what!

[BrilloPad]

Surely they'd need to learn how to read and write first

Since when have you needed that to join the police? Dont you just need to be power crazed?

[bogeyman]

Surely they'd need to learn how to read and write first

I used to suffer from the same prejudices as you do, but after meeting some travelers (in the late 1980s when I worked for a newspaper), learned that they school their kids as best they can.

They were all fully literate. One family I briefly knew had a full set of Dickens and ensured that all the kids read Ransome's 'Swallows and Amazons'.

You are more likely to find illiterates on the sprawling council estates of England than you are within the traveling community.

[DiscoStu]

Surely they'd need to learn how to read and write first

[bogeyman]

It's a worry.

There are two sides to this: first, it's a good story that the police should be representative of the popualtion that they police and that they should police with consent. On the other hand, there's the question - how many members of the Romany community would want to be police officers, if the opportunity were afforded them?

I imagine they would be shunned by their own communities, so it's a nonsensical idea really.

The 'travellers' (Gypsies, Didicoys, Tinkers, whatever you label them) see themselves as something outside of, and apart from, conventional society, and they uphold that identity fiercely.

Anyway, such an officer would have to be on an endless mobile secondment to whichever force he or she was camped nearest to.

Another bloody daft idea dreamed up by some well-paid quango members.

[Menelaus]

It's a worry.

There are two sides to this: first, it's a good story that the police should be representative of the popualtion that they police and that they should police with consent. On the other hand, there's the question - how many members of the Romany community would want to be police officers, if the opportunity were afforded them?

[Alf W]

Some super 'frothing' in the comments section here.

Whatever will they think of next...........maybe rapists and murderers will be pardoned if they promise to join the police.

roll on when the bnp get in,so common sense can prevail.

the reality is that gypsies are no more a danger to the public than the throng of muslim extremists who are employed with the UK police. britain is on a seemingly endless one way road to hell.

thats a laugh they will nick anything portable from the police station or anywhere!