An early morning conversation about the police started a hare running as I recalled Dave, our friendly liaison officer at my school. It was a small school set up in the 70's to teach English as a second language to the vast number of immigrants arriving daily in Rochdale. Though these immigrants were doing jobs which no one else wanted to do they were very much resented by some people.
We had children beaten up on their way to school occasionally and one policeman was assigned to be our liaison officer. Dave was young, outgoing and very good news.
When on polling day we found that people trying to vote were being threatened it was Dave we sent for. When the tyres on our cars were slashed it was Dave who came out. He supported us when we made a human shield to allow people to vote un molested in our school.
Living with constant racist threats was not comfortable but Dave made it bearable.
One fine Saturday morning there was a march going right through the middle of the town. Every one of us from school was on that march. It was peaceful and as we walked through the main streets of Rochdale we saw Dave in the crowd and he suddenly ran through and joined us. He walked with us all the way to the big park where speakers were waiting to greet us.
The next time we had an incident in school we rang the police expecting Dave when another man arrived. "I'm your new liaison officer" he announced. We wanted to know where Dave was but he just shook his head.
We rang Dave at his home and arranged to see him for a drink later. It was a really sad story. Someone had seen him marching with us and he had been taken off the case.
"They thought I'd gone native" he said ruefully and then grinned at us.."And its true really isn't it?"
Well yes it was true but we though it a sad reflection on the workings of the minds of the local police.
1 comment:
Jean, it seems to me, that the Police are part of the community and their work alongside those they police is the only way to maintain both their credibility and their sense of fairness.
Unfortunately, these days they seem to have been turned into some sort of rentamob for demonstrations and they deploy all of the tactics of the police state.
We have supposed community policing in our area - the trouble is, they seem to turn over the officers involved quite quickly. Just as you get to know a face and have a chat, they are moved on somewhere else. In fact, I have never seen the same PCSOs twice - and I am out and about in the community quite often.
While we do not have the incidents of racial tension that you describe, there appears to be a move towards gangs and a trend for these be be based along like minds, so we have a steadily increasing incidence of gang fights, in the main, between rival schools. Several of our schools actually have to have resident police officers.
We also have a fairly high proportion of short term residents, whether migrants, seasonal workers or asylum seekers - again, community resentment against them, not justified, if provoked by a few complaining about them stretching resources (shades of the Daily Mail mind).
One stabilising factor is the work of the local Faith groups, Churches together and others working within the community to bring down tension and to help people to get to know each other and a better understanding - this is work which is vital and well received. I truly believe that this is mission - bringing the community together, whatever their faith, culture or origin.
The Police appear to be trying hard - but I fear that their hands are tied by both a lack of resources and a mind-set which appears to believe that if you are not with them, you must be against them. Some listening from them, would not go amiss.
Post a Comment