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Neighbourhood watch AGM | News Gypsy prejudice ‘is like racism’
KENT Police’s gypsy and traveller expert believes prejudice against gypsies and travellers should be considered the same as racism.
PC Kim White has been the lead
officer for gypsy liaison since the gypsy liaison team was introduced by Kent Police in
2001.Although she was raised in the settled community, she has relatives from the Romany gypsy community, so she is aware of cultural differences and can under- stand Rocker, one of the many lan- guages spoken by these communities. She told the Maidstone and Dis-
trict NeighbourhoodWatch (NHW) AGM about the variations between gypsies (English Romany, who will
101 service
‘unacceptable’ KENT Police’s non-emergency 101 telephone service has been criticised by the local divisional commander. The schemewas launched in 2011
to reduce demand on 999 emer- gency calls. The unanimous view of speakers at the Maidstone and Dis- trict Neighbourhood Watch AGM was that itwas not up to scratch. One of its primary critics was
Steve Corbishley, chief superinten- dent of West Kent Division, who said he was “thoroughly hacked off” by the delay in answering calls. He said: “I have phoned 101 a few times and it has taken about 20 min- utes to get through. It’s unaccept- able so we are working to get a better service.” ChSupt Corbishley said he would
talk to those responsible for the service, which costs users 15p per call, to make improvements but the system was easily overwhelmed. “One incident can lead to 3,000 calls. “When people used to call 01622 690690 it was different. People can remember 101 much easier and since itwas introducedwe have had 40% more calls.”
Cheap drinks
Continued from page one Jason Reilly, of Kent Trading Standards, said it would be diffi- cult to change drinking laws be- cause “large major retailers in the entertainment industry are an in- credibly powerful lobby. If they don’t want to play with you they won’t.” Ch Supt Corbishley added: “When a lapdancing club opened in Maidstone there were local ob- jections, but the ownerwas able to roll out a top barrister. These peo- ple are very powerful.”
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tend to live on a permanent site and pay rent/council tax for their respec- tive plots), travellers (Irish, Scottish andWelsh, who prefer to live tran- siently but who in areas such as Headcorn/Medway and Dartford are residing on permanent sites which they own) andRoma(eastern Europeans, who have migrated in large numbers in recent years after the expansion of the EU). There are no council-owned sites housing Roma at the moment in Kent. PC White (55) said: “People still think it’s OK to be prejudiced
against gypsies, although not against other minority ethnic groups. They do still grow up with a lot of prejudice, which makes them a lot more insular and closed be- cause they don’t trust people like us who they refer to as ‘country folk’. “People think that because a lot of gypsies can’t read or write it means they are uneducated, but they are not. Many gypsies are professionals and include doctors and politicians.” One of the reasons for the increase
in gypsies living in permanent cara- van pitches in the countryside is that
they now have fewer stopping places. Gypsy children are required by law to attend school, so it is best for them to reside in one place per- manently so that the children get a good education. Her message to NHW coordina-
torswas: “If you have issues with the gypsy/travelling community don’t talk about it to yourselves; either go and speak with them or come to me and I will speak with them.” PC White, from Medway, was
given an OBE in 2012 for services to the gypsy/travelling community.
Coordinator award for dedicated Mike
BROOMFIELD resident Mike Evans was awarded NeighbourhoodWatch coordinator of the year for the Maid- stone area. Mr Evans began his role, which
also covers Kingswood, four years ago. He said: “I was on the parish council and we tried for a long time to get the Neighbourhood Watch well established. “I have just encouraged people to
report what they don’t like because they are usually reluctant to do that and it has proved quite successful.” Swansea-born, Mr Evans was a
sales director at Whatman paper. He lived in Bearsted before moving to Broomfield. Jim Wilson, chairman of Maid-
stone and District Neighbourhood Watch Association, said: “He has built up a network of 16 coordina-
Officers tackle tension as gypsy groups clash
A DEDICATED police operation has been set up to deal with a trou- blesome gypsy family in Headcorn. Operation Ostrich works with
the residents and traders to prevent disorder that has sometimes oc- curred in and around the village. PC Kim White, of Kent Police’s
Gypsy liaison team, said there are tensions between families on two privately owned sites in Headcorn. “There is some infighting on those sites and it causes worry for the other residents in the area. “When the new Indian restaurant opened in Headcorn we received a phone call stating there were a group of travellers refusing to pay their food bill for £230 because they claimed it was substandard. “It wasn’t any of the families
from these sites, but that is what everyone was saying. I knew the persons involved and they went back and paid the bill. “Shopkeepers have spoken of shoplifting, again speculation for a
particular onewas that itwas a res- ident from the site but itwas in fact someone visiting the area. The traders have my details and I am happy to speak with them if they have any prob- lems and to help to get them ad- dressed.” Mayor of Maidstone Richard Thick, who represents
Kim White
Headcorn on the borough council, said: “I deal quite a lot with trav- ellers and they themselves have an issue with one particular group of travellers. They say this group is giving them a bad name. I have walked down the street and they have spat at me, I have been sworn at and I almost got run over by one of them. They park on pavements and go chasing down Kings Road in Headcorn.”
Neighbourhood Watch coordinator of the year, Broomfield's Mike Evans receives his trophy from Maidstone mayor Richard Thick
tors. He is quiet and unassuming but dedicated to improving Neighbour- hoodWatch in the local area.”
Linda retires
as secretary LINDA Sinclair has stepped down from her position of sec- retary of Maidstone and Dis- trict Neighbourhood Watch after eight years. Ms Sin-
clair said she would still be volun- teering for the organisa- tion and would con- tinue to be a coordinator
for the Barming area, which is where she lives. On presenting her with a bouquet at the organisation’s AGM, chairman Jim Wilson said: “She has been an excel- lent secretary and friend. “She has a wealth of Neigh- bourhood Watch knowledge and will be greatly missed.”
Maidstone Town Xmas 2014
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