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 TRAVELER-RELATED CRIME IN THE UK
By A Brit * February 2002
Because of the politics involved with this sensitive topic, the author of the
following article must remain anonymous. For reasons cited in the article, any open
discussion involving these groups could lead to a removal from office
I have been asked to give my observations on criminality within the Gypsy/Traveler
fraternity in the UK. It should be noted that not all Travelling people are involved
in crime. However, this article pertains to that segment of the population that
consistently chooses to engage in criminal activities. I make this statement to remind
readers that I could just as easily give my comments on the positive factors that
exist within the UK’s Travelling community.
A large number of Travelling families live on caravan sites that have been built with
funds from the central government. Managing such sites is the responsibility of the
local governments. Travelers are also accommodated in privately owned Travelling
sites, private housing and on illegal roadside encampments.
Unlike the USA, we tend to view Gypsies and Travelers as being of one ethnic group. In
law, only Gypsies are an ethnic minority, but Travelers are recognised as such by most
government bodies.
My own involvement with Travelers is as a worker who gives support to the families who
live in or camp with-in one particular area. I have been working with Travelers since
the 1980s. Although I am academically qualified, I do not consider myself as an
academic. I am not a die in the wool Traveler supporter; but neither will I stand for
any anti-Traveler discrimination from the settled community. I try to present myself
as an honest broker when dealing with Traveler issues, and feel it is counter
productive to deny the truth regardless of what those truths might be. Having
everything out in the open is the only way to resolve issues.
As a person working with-in the Travelling community it would be impossible not to
have knowledge of the criminal activities that my client group are involved in, and it
is from this position that I now document my observations. The criminal activity that
I see can be broken into three groups: (1) Benefit fraud, (2) Work related fraud, and
(3) Criminal activity.
BENEFIT FRAUDS
There are approximately 350 local governments run Travelling Person Sites, which
caters for more than 6000 families. Of those families, more than 95% of them have
applied for, and receive, housing and welfare benefits; a high percentage of which are
being claimed fraudulently.
This type of fraud is often ignored and viewed as petty. The usual rationalization for
ignoring these crimes involves the misbelief that any attempts to stop it would place
a drain on resources that could be used elsewhere. In reality, most of these frauds
could easily be prevented if a low level of investigation was carried out and
applicants pressured into produce verifiable personal identification.
False Claims Other abuses include multiple
benefit claims being made at various Social Security offices using alias names. The
most common fraud involves married women who claim that they and their children are on
their own. As a result, they receive state benefits, free accommodations, and no
pressure to seek or obtain employment.
Home Fraud One of the more elaborate frauds works
like this. The suspect purchases a home and then rents it out to an accomplice. The
accomplice then applies for and receives state rent assistance, which usually equals
the amount of the house payments. Furthermore, the accomplice also purchases a home
using an alias, which he rents out to his partner. The partner in turn applies for
rent assistance, which again covers the amount of the mortgage payments. After the
state so graciously pays off both mortgages, the suspects continue to live in each
other’s homes and pocket the state rent assistance money.
I am not finished with the state benefit system; it is open to further abuse.
Disability Fraud Disablement allowances are very lucrative and easy to get if you can
con a doctor into believing that you have some ailment. If a doctor does not play
ball, you just keep changing doctors until you get one that will certify an ailment.
To list all the benefit schemes that the Travelers have devised would require far more
space than I’ve been allotted here. I can tell you that these people know their way
around the rules, and who to turn to for help in defeating the system. They have
located the system’s weaknesses and have enlisted the support of Traveler activist
groups and non-government agencies who know well how to transform the word
“discrimination” into a lethal weapon.
Tow Bar Getaway Investigations by fraud officers is usually a waste of time because
the suspects leave the area at the first sign of trouble. This is so common, that it
is called the tow-bar syndrome. If there is trouble on the horizon, just hook the
caravan up to a tow bar and disappear. Another certainty for officers, who attempt to
investigate these offenses, is that they will not get any help from other Travelers
who have come to view benefit fraud not as crimes, but as a right.
WORK RELATED FRAUD
Most, if not all, travelling men do some sort of work regardless of their benefit
status. Gardening, tree felling, roofing, painting, fitting flashings and tar work are
the common earners in our area. We do have one group who make a good living collecting
cockles and other shellfish from the seashore.
Beating the Competition Shell fishers are hard
working people. They collect the shellfish from below the high water mark on the shore
regardless of the often-poor weather conditions; best pickings are in the winter. The
problem comes when Traveler groups ignore health warnings and gather shellfish in
areas where the shellfish have been designated as being unfit for human consumption.
The contaminated catch is then transported to other areas and sold for a handsome
profit. About the worst punishment for such violators involves the confiscation of
their catch and a stern warning not to duplicate this behaviour.
To further compound the problem, these Travelers do not pay the requisite taxes, nor
do they have the expense of operating a business establishment. They also lack
insurance coverage, and their guarantees are often worthless. Waste or rubbish that is
removed from the work place is not always disposed of properly and can end up at the
side of the road. These, and other shoddy business practices, do not sit well with the
legitimate tradesmen. As they see it, the Travelers can often undercut their prices
and offer seemingly amazing guarantees because they have no intention of making good
on any of their promises.
Intimidation Tactics Many so-called Traveler
businesses use intimidation tactics when dealing with an uninformed public. When they
obtain a job trimming trees, dressing driveways, or other such repair work, they
initially provide the victim with a very reasonable estimate. Once the job is
completed they increase the quoted price by two or three hundred percent. Pressure is
then placed on the victim to pay up or face the consequences. This tactic works well
on elderly victims. Should the victim be more able-bodied, additional Travelers are
brought in to intimidate the person into paying. In most cases, this tactic is
successful.
Shoddy Work The work that is performed by these
groups is often substandard. I have heard of tar being laid that never sets, roofs
that continued to leak after repairs, and work that was guaranteed for ten years that
did not survive the first winter.
Cash Grab In some instances, soon after the job
begins, the Traveler informs the victim that money is needed to purchase supplies. If
the victims pay up, that is the last they will see of the contractor or their money.
Inflated Prices Another scam involves calling on householders and offering
to clean their guttering for a small fee, say £25. ($35) Once the Traveler has the
confidence of the householder, and is on the roof, he can resort to a number of cons.
He will say that the guttering and flashings require replacing or painting, or there
is something seriously wrong with the roof. He can easily dupe elderly homeowners into
believing that the roof is going to fall down and destroy their house. They assure the
troubled homeowner that everything will be okay if they are allowed to immediately
complete the job--- there is no time to waste. Of course, there is no need to get
other estimates because they are the cheapest and most reliable contractors in town.
It is easy to see how a householder can be steamrollered into parting with cash when
confronted by these criminal groups who have long since become experts at parting
vulnerable people from their cash. During a recent case involving an elderly couple,
the Traveler con artists walked away with over £60,000 ($85,422) for repairs that were
never made.
CRIMINAL ACTIVITY
Most workers within the Traveler support industry area non-Travelers. Needless to say,
this does not result in any open or frank discussions about their criminal activities.
The Traveler’s family histories go back generations, and every one is in some way
related. This is why Traveler crime flourishes. When it is to their advantage, the
group will work with outsiders, but such accomplices are seldom given any details of
the operation, and they are left to take the rap when the scam goes sour. This closed
shop style of operation is one of the main reasons law enforcement agencies find it
difficult to make any headway when working on possible Gypsy/Traveler related crimes.
Fortune Telling The traditional fortune telling
con games appear to be on the decline. I am led to believe that there are only a small
number of people now involved in this particular racket. Overall, there is better and
easier money to be made from benefit frauds, and the likelihood of being caught is
much less than it was with fortune telling scams.
Insurance Fraud Unlike the USA, fraudulent
insurance claims are taken very seriously in the UK. The insurance investigators are
very strict and most claims are looked into properly. Because of this, the insurance
companies seem to be ahead of the game.
Drugs There are some Travelers involved in drug
dealing. For the most part, the use of and trafficking in drugs is frowned on and
avoided. Travelers will ignore another family’s involvement with drugs, but will not
get involved themselves.
Common Bond Although the Gypsy/Travelers do
interact with the criminal elements within our society, those relationships are
usually brief and only exist when it is to their advantage Violence between both
groups is not uncommon; however, seldom will these groups supply law enforcement
officers with any information that could bring serious consequences to their temporary
enemies.
Problems faced when investigating alleged crime within the Travelling community.
The closed shop approach to family business makes it almost impossible for
investigators to discover what, if any, crimes the families are committing. Family
connections go back generations and are strong.
Traveling criminals are also well versed on their legal rights. They know exactly how
the system works, and how to use it to their advantage. For instance, they know that
they can only be held for a limited period of time in police custody without being
charged. Being brought in for questioning tells them that the officer probably lacks
sufficient information to charge them. They then invest a few hours making
non-committal statements, after which time they are set free.
Most investigators have been conditioned to avoid involvement with Traveler cases
whenever possible. Faced with large workloads, and pressure to obtain results, leaves
the investigators with little time to invest on cases that show little hopes of ever
being tried in a court of law.
Hands-Off Policy Because of strict racial equality
regulations, there is always a danger that any investigation against members of a
racially connected group may result in complaints against the investigating authority.
These complaints usually come from, or are supported by, various Non-Government
Agencies (NGA’s) or supporters who work within the Travelling community. These
agencies are only too happy to have a go at persons who are interested in the criminal
activities of their client group.
The reluctance by investigators to look into the criminal activities of these groups
also stems from the Steven Laurence Inquiry and the McPherson report. Both resulted in
new guidelines and procedures that the police must follow when dealing with members of
any ethnic or ethnically recognised groups. There have been reports in the news media
that some police officers who work in areas with a large ethnic populations, feel
there are too many restraints put on them, making it impossible to control or
investigate the criminal activities committed by such groups.
Kinder Approach To make a bad situation worse,
all police units that once specialized in the investigation of Traveler activities
have been disbanded. In their place, most forces now have units that are involved in
“bridge building” with the Traveler community and their supporters. These units are
still in their infancy so it is difficult to gauge their usefulness.
The Spin Factor The recent setting up of devolved
parliaments in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland could have tremendous affects as
to how Traveler related issues are handled throughout the UK. There has been NGA led
campaigns in both Scotland and Northern Ireland in recent years about Travelers and
their rights. The evidence given before these parliaments was very one sided and, with
few exception, only friends and allies of the NGA’s were given the right to speak on
the record. A number of depositions were submitted giving a more realistic picture of
Traveler issues, but few were considered as relevant and subsequently were never
viewed by the members of that parliament when making their recommendations. Neither
was any attempt made to ascertain the accuracy of the information presented, or of the
qualifications of the presenters. In some cases, the persons giving evidence to the
parliamentary committee had not been in their position for long, and only a very small
percentage of their work was with the Travelling community.
FINAL OBSERVATIONS
My job is to help and support Traveler families and act as an honest broker on their
behalf with the surrounding settled community and local government agencies. I do not
know of any other non-law enforcement occupation where a worker would come against so
much criminal activity. I did not set out to find the above information; it came to me
through my work within the Travelling community. I would not say that the above crimes
are only committed by Travelers, but my observations would indicate that criminality
within these groups is much higher than the national level.
What is really needed is for parliament to sponsor a reality check of criminality
with-in the Travelling community and then decide what action to take. If that means
meeting the problem head on then so be it. A criminal is a criminal, is a criminal, no
matter what their beliefs or ethnic background. Only when the politicians become aware
of this, and are prepared to do the decent thing by the law abiding members of the
public, will we put an end to criminal families hiding behind their ethnic origins.
The law-abiding members of the Travelling community do not help their situation when
they ignore or support the criminal element that exists within their community. Their
silence allows such people to avoid accountability for their anti-social behaviour. We
live in a multi-cultured society where the barriers between different societies are
disappearing. If the Gypsy/Travelers ever decide to confront the criminal groups
within their community, I suspect that the common belief that all Gypsy/Travelers are
criminals would eventually fade away. This would not happen over night, but I believe
that it would happen.
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