[Diggers350] FFT: Investigation: Police Dont Want More Powers To Evict Traveller Encampments
Tony Gosling
tony at cultureshop.org.uk
Mon Sep 28 22:52:32 BST 2020
FFT: Investigation: Police Dont Want More Powers
To Evict Traveller Encampments
<tony at cultureshop.org.uk>
19 Sep 2020, 23:45:43 (9 days ago)
Friends Families And Travellers Investigation:
Police Dont Want More Powers To Evict Traveller Encampments
<http://tlio.org.uk/friends-families-and-travellers-investigation-police-dont-want-more-powers-to-evict-traveller-encampments/>http://tlio.org.uk/friends-families-and-travellers-investigation-police-dont-want-more-powers-to-evict-traveller-encampments/
<http://tlio.org.uk/friends-families-and-travellers-investigation-police-dont-want-more-powers-to-evict-traveller-encampments/>19/09/2020
<http://tlio.org.uk/author/tony/>TONY GOSLING
<http://tlio.org.uk/friends-families-and-travellers-investigation-police-dont-want-more-powers-to-evict-traveller-encampments/#respond>LEAVE
A COMMENT
Even the police dont want more powers to evict
Traveller camps investigation reveals
<https://www.travellerstimes.org.uk/news/2020/09/even-police-dont-want-more-powers-evict-traveller-camps-investigation-reveals>https://www.travellerstimes.org.uk/news/2020/09/even-police-dont-want-more-powers-evict-traveller-camps-investigation-reveals
Police do not want more powers to evict
unauthorised Traveller camps and instead want
more legal sites built an investigation by the
charity Friends Families and Travellers (FFT) has revealed.
The national charity submitted freedom of
information requests to all Police Forces and
Police and Crime Commissioners in England and
Wales, as well as the National Police Chief
Council and the Association of Police and Crime
Commissioners to get their submissions to the
Governments 2019 consultation Strengthening
police powers to tackle unauthorised encampments.
In the consultation the Government threatened to:
* Make trespass a crime resulting in
prison, a fine or your vehicle being taken from you.
* Make it a crime for you to stop alongside
or on the road they will be able to move you along.
* Make it so police can act when there is two
vehicles, instead of six. A car, a trailer and a
van would count as three vehicles. A horse drawn
wagon would also count as a vehicle, say lawyers.
* Make it so police can force you to go to a
transit site in another county.
* Make it so you are banned from an area for
one year instead of three months.
The FFT research shows that only one out of five
bodies who responded with their submissions
supported the Government proposals to criminalise
unauthorised encampments and nearly all of police
bodies called for more site provision. Less than
one in five agreed with the Home Office proposals
to give police power to seize vehicles of those on unauthorised encampments.
The findings clearly demonstrate that only a
small percentage of police respondents are in
favour of criminalising trespass or strengthening
of existing powers, stressing that this will be
ineffective unless there is increased site
provision, say Friends Families and Travellers.
The full FFT report on their investigation can be
seen
<https://www.gypsy-traveller.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/FINAL-Police-oppose-criminalising-unauthorised-encampments-and-call-for-more-sites-to-be-published-9am-13.11.19.pdf>here.
The consultation closed in March 2020 and the
Government is expected to
<https://www.gypsy-traveller.org/campaign/police-repeat-calls-for-more-sites-rejecting-home-office-proposals-to-criminalise-trespass/>release
their own results on the consultation later this autumn.
<https://www.gypsy-traveller.org/campaign/police-repeat-calls-for-more-sites-rejecting-home-office-proposals-to-criminalise-trespass/>POLICE
REPEAT CALLS FOR MORE SITES, REJECTING HOME
OFFICE PROPOSALS TO CRIMINALISE TRESPASS
There is no point in bringing in more laws which
tell Travellers where they cant go when you
arent telling them where they can go
Abbie Kirkby, Advice and Policy Manager at
Friends, Families and Travellers said:
The hostile approach taken by this Government
towards Gypsies and Travellers must stop. We have
seen huge opposition to these proposals,
opposition not only from the police but from
across society in recognition of the implications
for human rights and civil liberties. The
Government have failed Gypsy and Traveller
communities there is no point in bringing in
more laws which tell Travellers where they cant
go when you arent telling them where they can go.
In their response to the consultation, the
National Police Chiefs Council and the
Association of Police and Crime Commissioners
said, We believe that criminalising unauthorised
encampments is not acceptable. Complete
criminalisation of trespass would likely lead to
legal action in terms of incompatibility with
regard to the Human Rights Act 1998 and the
Public Sector Equality Duty under the Equality
Act 2010, most likely on the grounds of how could
such an increase in powers be proportionate and
reasonable when there are insufficient pitches and stopping places?
The Travellers Times understands that Lawyers
for Gypsies and Travellers are set to challenge
in the High Court any new laws strengthening police powers to evict camps.
A Government spokesperson said:
While the vast majority of traveller communities
reside in authorised encampments, there have been
long-standing concerns about the disproportionate
impact of some unauthorised sites which cause
significant distress to local communities.
That is why the Home Office carried out a
consultation seeking views on strengthening
police powers to tackle these unauthorised
encampments. A response will be made in due course.
POLICE REPEAT CALLS FOR MORE SITES, REJECTING
HOME OFFICE PROPOSALS TO CRIMINALISE TRESPASS
<https://www.gypsy-traveller.org/campaign/police-repeat-calls-for-more-sites-rejecting-home-office-proposals-to-criminalise-trespass/>September
9, 2020 Today, Friends, Families and Travellers
(FFT) release the findings of an illuminating
report which indicates only a small percentage of
police bodies are in favour of the Home Office
proposals to criminalise unauthorised
encampments. The research found an overwhelming
93% of police bodies who submitted to the
consultation and shared their response with FFT
called for better site provision for Gypsies and
Travellers as a solution to unauthorised encampments.
FFT submitted freedom of information (FOI)
requests to all Police Forces and Police and
Crime Commissioners in England and Wales, as well
as the National Police Chief Council (NPCC) and
the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners
(APCC) to view the responses of police bodies to
the Governments 2019 consultation Strengthening
police powers to tackle unauthorised encampments.
From the responses shared with FFT, only 21.7%
of police bodies agreed with the Home Office
proposals to criminalise unauthorised
encampments; 93.7% of police bodies called for
site provision as the solution to unauthorised
encampments; and only 18.7% of respondents agreed
with the Home Office proposals to give police
power to seize vehicles of those on unauthorised encampments.
The findings clearly demonstrate that only a
small percentage of police respondents are in
favour of criminalising trespass or strengthening
of existing powers, stressing that this will be
ineffective unless there is increased site
provision. The consultation closed in March 2020
and the Government is expected to release their
own results on the consultation later this autumn.
Following the release of the report, Abbie
Kirkby, Advice and Policy Manager at Friends, Families and Travellers said:
The hostile approach taken by this Government
towards Gypsies and Travellers must stop. We have
seen huge opposition to these proposals,
opposition not only from the police but from
across society in recognition of the implications
for human rights and civil liberties. The
Government have failed Gypsy and Traveller
communities there is no point in bringing in
more laws which tell Travellers where they cant
go when you arent telling them where they can go.
Speaking about the personal impacts of the
proposed powers, Martha Ostick shared:
You never feel like you can get settled when you
live on the road, its impossible to feel
grounded and that impacts every part of your
life, you are in the hands of the authorities and
it doesnt feel safe. This new legislation makes
you feel like youre not included in society,
that youre a criminal. We dont need more police
powers, we need negotiated stopping so you can
plan your year, get work, get to school, be part
of the same society as everyone else.
Voicing concerns over additional police powers without more sites, Chloe said:
I think the Government should be listening more
to the police, the ones that do want to help the
Traveller community. They are out there every
day, and they see exactly whats going on the
impacts police powers have on families. The
police dont need more powers. More powers will
make life much harder for people who are
homeless. If the government authorised more sites
it would be a better solution to the problems.
Gypsies and Travellers havent got any say now,
if the police got more powers, if feels like there will be no hope.
Speaking about the research findings, a
spokesperson for the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Police Association (GRTPA) said:
The GRTPA are absolutely opposed to the
Government recommendations to criminalise
trespass and the stronger police powers that have
been drafted. This proposed legislation
criminalises a traditional way of life for our
community and will only seek to marginalise
Gypsies and Travellers further. We believe the
solution is, and has always been adequate site
provision across the country, inclusive of
transit sites and negotiated stopping. Gypsies
and Travellers are recognised ethnic groups and
our nomadic way of life is part of our culture,
therefore the legislation would be in conflict
with Human Rights and Equality legislation and
would only further antagonise the awful bias and
discrimination we suffer daily.
Notes for Editor
About Friends, Families and Travellers (FFT)
Friends, Families and Travellers is a leading
national charity that works on behalf of all
Gypsies, Roma and Travellers regardless of ethnicity, culture or background.
Media Contact
Sami McLaren, Communications Officer
Tel: 07436 228910 Email: <https://groups.google.com/>sa... at gypsy-traveller.org
Relevant Resources
Police renew calls for more Gypsy and Traveller
sites in opposition to the criminalisation of
unauthorised encampments. View repor
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/private/diggers350/attachments/20200928/c252873a/attachment.html>
More information about the Diggers350
mailing list