NCJ Number
47733
Journal
Police Journal Volume: 51 Issue: 2 Dated: (APRIL-JUNE 1978) Pages: 181-190
Date Published
1978
Length
10 pages
Annotation
THE HISTORY OF POLICE AND COMMUNITY RELATIONS WITH THE MIGRATORY BANDS OF GYPSIES THAT HAVE WANDERED ABOUT ENGLAND FOR CENTURIES IS EXAMINED.
Abstract
FEW PEOPLE HAVE PROVOKED MORE DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSING OPINIONS AND ATTITUDES THAN HAVE THE GYPSIES. AS INSTRUMENTS OF THE ESTABLISHMENT, THE POLICE HAVE OFTEN BEEN IN THE FOREFRONT IN DEALING WITH GUPSIES, ESPECIALLY WHEN REPRESSIVE MEASURES WERE FELT TO BE CALLED FOR. THE POLICE HAVE PASSED THROUGH PERIODS OF GRUDGING TOLERANCE, ACTIVE HOSTILITY, REPRESSION AND HARASSMENT, AND ON TO A MORE LIBERAL ATTITUDE IN RESPONSE TO POSITIVE GOVERNMENTAL MEASURES TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM POSED BY THE GYPSIES. THE ORIGINS OF THE GYPSIES ARE EXAMINED, AND THEIR MIGRATIONS ARE TRACED FROM THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT ACROSS ASIA MINOR AND EUROPE TO THE BRITISH ISLES. THEIR STATUS UNDER ENGLISH LAW IS DISCUSSED. POLICE AND ESTABLISHMENT ATTITUDES TOWARD GYPSIES ARE EXAMINED. BOTH THE FRENCH AND ENGLISH GOVERNMENTS DEPORTED THOUSANDS OF THEM TO AMERICA IN COLONIAL TIMES. THE POLICY OF ENCOURAGING THE GYPSIES TO MOVE ON HAS BEEN PERPETUATED UP TO THE PRESENT DAY. THE TRADITIONAL GYPSY OCCUPATIONS OF HORSE DEALING, SMITHERY, AND PEG- AND BASKETMAKING SELDOM PUT THEM IN CONFLICT WITH THE POLICE, AND THEIR MORE ILLICIT ACTIVITIES SUCH AS BEGGING, POACHING, AND FORTUNE TELLING WERE LARGELY TOLERATED. HOWEVER, SINCE WORLD WAR II, THE PICTURE HAS CHANGED DRASTICALLY. THE GYPSIES' ABANDONMENT OF THESE CRAFTS FOR GENERAL DEALING AND SCRAP METAL WORK AND THEIR USE OF OFTEN ILL-MAINTAINED TRUCKS AND CARS, COUPLED WITH THE GREAT INCREASE IN THE URBANIZATION OF THE COUNTRYSIDE, HAVE BROUGHT THEM INCREASINGLY INTO CONFLICT WITH THE POLICE. THE GROWTH OF TRAVELING POPULATIONS DUE TO WORLD WAR II AND THE SETTING UP OF SEMIPERMANENT CAMPS LED TO POLICIES OF HARASSMENT ADOPTED WIDELY THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY. AS REGARDS AUTHORITARIAN AND PUBLIC ATTITUDES TOWARD GYPSIES, THE SHORT-LIVED TOLERANCE THAT EXISTED BETWEEN THE 1920'S AND THE LATE 1930'S CRUMBLED WITH THE OUTBREAK OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR. FEARING FIFTH COLUMNIST INFILTRATION AND AN OUTRIGHT INVASION, THE AUTHORITIES ROUNDED UP THE GYPSIES AND PLACED THEM IN COMPOUNDS FOR THE DURATION OF THE WAR. THE CONDITIONS IN THESE COMPOUNDS WERE BAD, AND THE TREATMENT OF THE GYPSIES WAS CHARACTERISTICALLY SHABBY; THESE YEARS SET THE MOOD FOR POSTWAR ATTITUDES, AND THE PLIGHT OF THE GYPSIES THROUGHOUT THE 1950'S WAS DISGRACEFUL. THE FEARS HARBORED BY SUBURBANITES CONCERNING BRITAIN'S GYPSY POPULATION TODAY ARE EXAMINED. THESE INCLUDE FEARS OF: (1) INCREASED CRIME AND ASSAULTS, (2) PUBLIC HEALTH AND SANITATION PROBLEMS, (3) ECOLOGICAL DESPOILATION, AND (4) THE POSSIBILITY OF THE GYPSIES BECOMING A BURDEN ON THE WELFARE STATE. THE SOLUTIONS UNDERTAKEN BY VARIOUS OTHER EUROPEAN NATIONS AND THE SOLUTIONS SUGGESTED FOR BRITAIN PROPER ARE NOTED. ONE PROPOSAL IS THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PERMANENT AND WELL-MAINTAINED GYPSY ENCAMPMENTS. A BIBLIOGRAPHY IS PROVIDED. (KBL)