thenotsomightyom

Thanks to the Telegraph’s Crime Editor Martin Evans and the “From the Telegraph” Editor for the Headline.

The move to less “County” Forces and bigger Police Institutions is what the Police Chiefs will want to progress with. The head of “Wiltshire Police ” has already said that she thinks in order to achieve more effective policing that there will need to amalgamate Forces. Wiltshire and Thames Valley for example.(my suggested choice so the County Lines criminals can be monitored)

Modern policing is less about a nice reassuring patrol and an “Evening All” Dixon of Dock Green style and now more about CCTV, AI and gathering information quickly and efficiently.

Modern Policing Policy today is highly influenced by the Police’s own Institutions , however, the Government of the time will always put their pennyworth in and interestingly enough the Police are not happy about releasing prisoners from our already overcrowded (some privately run) prisons early and also at the possibility of “serious criminals” being given “In the Community Sentences”.

Politicians on the other hand see it differently, Criminals should be made to do Community Service and given unpleasant jobs like cleaning up fly-tipping ( I would imagine that’s a pretty specialist job, particularly if the Council’s are trying to trace the culprit and also ensure the environment is cleaned up properly) or erasing vandalism (how about we make them climb walls and cross railway lines to get to the offending material). Health and Safety would have a field day.

With recent political developments some Criminals are not going to jail at all or having an early release. The Police say this will affect their call handling staffing ( which is pretty much automated) as well as their Neighbourhood Patrols as they need their resources to keep an eye on these early release “Serious, Criminals”.

What we really need is some crime statistics that say Crime is reducing and ignore the specifics and sadly the victims. Let’s face it statistics can prove anything and Crime is a numbers game and face to face policing is old fashioned and costly. Big organisations are better than small organisations. Empathy and Social Work is not the Police’s job, “locking them up is”.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏

Thanks to Keno Verseck and DP News for the Headline

The article was originally written in German and translated for the publication online. This probably explains why it was written as a list and a very abrupt question. How do Eastern Europe Countries commemorate the Roma Holocaust?

In Germany itself, the EU designated day of the second of August each year , decided on in 2015 is marked by memorial services, educational activities and public addresses. As you can imagine the holocaust of European Roma and Sinti took place was over 80 years ago before these memorials were put in place. They estimate over 500,000 Roma and Sinti were systematically rounded up and killed. We could just as easily ask why the delay in recognising these crimes against an Ethnic Group ?

Still it’s a good article and takes the form of a list which I summarise.

Poland: ( current Roma population 50,000) has been observing August the second since 2011. Including visits by parliamentary and government representatives to the Auschwitz Memorial. In addition on July the third at the village of Szczurowa, east of Krakow the memory of Polish Roma massacared by German Troops in 1943 is honoured. In 1956 Szczurowa became the first site of a European memorial for victims of the Romani Holocaust. Other small towns and villages across southeastern Poland also commemorate the killing of Polish Roma during the Nazi German Occupation.

Czech Republic: ( current Roma population 250,000) . The most recognised memorial which Roma organisations have been commemorating for decades is a Lety , south of Prague. This is the site where German Nazis established a concentration camp in 1940 and began deporting and imprisoning Romani families from occupied Bohemia from 1942 onwards. However August the second is now officially recognised by officialdom as a Day of Remembrance for Romani who lost their lives in the Holocaust.

Slovakia :(current Roma population 500,000). Romani Holocaust Memorial Day has been observed on August the second since 2005.

Hungary: ( current Roma population 600,000). Since a Parliamentary Resolution in 2005 various sites have been observing the Romani Holocaust Memorial Day on August the second. Hungarian Roma were the target of deportation and killings particularly following the German occupation in 1944 and under the rule of the Arrow Cross, Hungary’s fascist regime.More recently the memorial includes those Roma people who were killed between 2008 and 2009 by four Hungarian neo-Nazis, killing a total of six people and injuring fifty-five others. Sad to say they planned their final hate crime for the night of August the second in the Eastern Village of Kisleta.

Romania ( current Roma population 2 million). Roma Holocaust Memorial Day has officially been observed since 2020.In 2025 President Nicusor Dan became the first Romanian head of state to personally attend the memorial service at the Holocaust Memorial in Bucharest.

Bulgaria:(current Roma population 700,000) Although Bulgaria was allied with Nazi Germany during the War , they resisted German demands to deport Jews and Roma, but there was discrimination within Bulgaria and these groups were subject to being treated as second class citizens. August the second has yet to be declared an official day of remembrance but it is still marked with commemorative events organised by Roma organisations and in some instances supported by the Government.

Croatia: (current Roma population 25,000) In 2014 Parliament declared August the second a day of Remembrance . The main commemorative ceremony is held at the site of the former concentration and extermination camp Jasenovac where the fascist Ustashe movement imprisoned Serbs, Jews, Croats and Roma. Jasenovac also commemorates the attempt at escape by those imprisoned on the twenty second of April 1945.

North Macedonia: ( current Roma population 100,000). Since 2017 the second of August has been officially observed at a ceremony held in Skopje at the Holocaust Memorial Centre for the Jews of Macedonia, however as it is also a National Holiday , Republic Day and St Elijah’s Day respectively. So the Public Remembrance of the Roma Holocaust tends to receive less attention.

Serbia: (current Roma population 130,000) There is no official memorial day for the Roma Holocaust. There are other days set aside for remembering the genocidal policies of the Nazis and the Ustase regimes which also honor the memory of the Roma killed in the genocide.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏

Thanks to Jessica Rawnsley and BBC News Online for the Headline

The Modern Slavery Act, came into force in 2015 , defining human trafficking as arranging or facilitating the travel of another person within a country of across borders for the purposes of that person being exploited.

Formally recognising someone of a victim is key to pursuing Criminal Charges so far five women have received confirmation that their treatment by the Al Fayed Dynasty ( Al Fayed and his brother Salah who at the time owned the prestigious Harrods shop). One of the victims was indeed trafficked through Harrods.

As a result the Metropolitan Police may be able to progress their investigation into whether or not others were helped to traffic these “victims”.

My experience tells me that these extremely high profile and apparently wealthy people feel they can do whatever they like and that they can treat their employees as they see fit. Briefly I saw this in action when I took a job as an assistant to a P.A. to a woman who thought herself and her name more important that anyone else.

Her behaviour was appalling, she said that the cleaner who they had got from an agency had not cleaned her toothbrushes properly when she cleaned the bathroom. The cleaner didn’t stand a chance, the contract was terminated immediately. It was just totally unjust and unpredictable.

Sad, though just like the Jimmy Saville case, the Al Fayed’s are now long deceased so I’m not really sure what benefit comes of all this , apart from the recognition of yes there were victims and perhaps it is right to acknowledge the “abuse”.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏

Thank you to Cathy Killick and BBC Online News for the Headline

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is consulting on new limits to lead exposure from studies done by academics which could result in women not being allowed to work in positions where they repair and conserve Stained Glass Windows. The plan is to reduce the limits of exposure significantly and as a result women who currently work in the field and have no intention of having children will be excluded from the workforce.

As one of the women who could be affected commented , if she was in the armed forces or the fire brigade, she could make a choice , but because she works with lead she has no choice.

The final decision on lead levels will be made when the HSE has consulted a number of the heritage and craft sectors affected. It’s very difficult , but the winning card will always be Health and I do wonder if the HSE will listen to those about to be excluded from their work.