EVENIN` ALL...

It`s not very often I feel the need to write about our boys in blue but I noticed a report the other day about the police here in Kent facing criticism after releasing a photograph of two of their officers holding up a gypsy flag.  Here`s a not very good photo of the photo which Kent Police posted on Twitter....of all things......

The officers photographed are Deputy Chief Constable Tony Blaker and PC Kate West and they are shown holding up the blue and green flag with a red caravan wheel in the centre - the Gypsy Roma Travellers flag.   The Force Twitter post said, "We are marking GRT History month by raising the flag, helping to show our continued support for diverse communities.  Kent`s history has a rich Gypsy and Roma heritage and we`ll continue to work with all communities to ensure this is a welcoming county for all."

Following some criticism on Twitter and elsewhere Kent Police defended their right to celebrate diversity, saying that showing support could improve their relationship with groups such as travellers.   DC Blaker went on to say, "British policing is by consent and Kent Police seeks to positively engage with all our communities.  In doing so we regularly show our support for other national and international events and religious festivals."  This comes shortly after Kent`s Chief Constable, Alan Pughsley, was shown `taking the knee` in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Now here in our small Kentish village we have had the pleasure over many years of seeing a family of genuine gypsy travellers visiting us for a day or so to rest their horse, stay overnight on an area of green before moving on next day.   They have been exemplary in their behaviour and respect for the local community - they left the place as they found it and you would never know they had been there.

Contrast that with the frequent `invasions` - for that is what they are - by `travellers` who turn up en masse, break down gates, forcibly enter the village green areas, park their 4x4s, their white vans, their trucks and trailers wherever they want, transgress all manner of rules and regulations, create mayhem by hurling abuse at local residents and leaving an unholy mess behind for the local council to deal with.

I just hope that Kent Police`s flag waving is in genuine support of the authentic Gypsy Roma travellers rather than the `wider traveller community,` with whose crimes and misdemeanours the law abiding council taxpayers have to contend. But I fear I may be mistaken and so  I`m tempted to suggest that maybe the higher echelons of Kent Police should perhaps spend more time supporting their own overworked and over stressed front line troops rather than straying into virtue signalling stunts which simply add to the disconnect from those who pay their salaries.  After all, the whole purpose of the police is surely to maintain law and order for those who pay them to do so and not to play political games in support of those who do not?

Heaven knows what PC George Dixon would make of it all.  "Move along please.  Nothing to see here."