So my quiet town had a visit from our traveller 'friends' this week and

[AndThatsWhatIThinkOfYou]

They wonder why people are so against them setting up camp where ever they please.

They arrived last Wednesday on a football field with a park and caused a whole load of trouble, for example, going to the petrol station handing over euros, being told they won't accept euros as payment, they simple got in their vans and drove of.

Made a visit to our local Sainsburys got caught shoplifting, were locked in until police were called.

Local children playing on park got beaten up with sticks by the traveller children.

And to top it all of 3 vans pulling up outside a local pub, very busy, dropping their trousers and all three disgusting men casually took a shit one by one on the pub doorstep. Got in there vans and drove of.

Then left the football field and park in an absolute mess. Rubbish everywhere.

Each incident police were called but nothing has been done.

So AIBU to wonder why travellers think this behavior is acceptable? and why can't anything be done to stop it?

oh dear, I hope you have your hardhat OP

talk about generalisation! If all these incidents are true not local rumour/gossip, then yes, your area has had the misfortune to meet a horrible bunch of people. BUT I do not think ALL travellers behave like this or are bad people. And I do think there are plenty of NON-TRAVELLERS who are equally antisocial and hard work to live alongside.

slow typing, u probably had lots of replies by now

Human rights. They are entitled to their culture. People who take umbrage at it are just being intolerant.

You live in the same town as me. This is the third separate group in as many weeks. Apparently, the eviction order only applies to the vehicles listed in the order so new ones can come and the whole process has to start again.

The incidents ARE true. I live very close to both of the sites where they arrived.

Are you being sarcastic Tabitha? "Human Rights"? So, people have a human right to shit on doorsteps and steal? Seriously?!

I'm answering assuming you're not posting just to be goady.

YABU to attribute this (definitely appalling behaviour) to 'travellers' generally, instead of the particular individuals who did it.

As for why can't anything be done about it, I don't know, but I hear of a lot of situations where there doesn't seem to be much of a police response, or an ineffective one (lot's of 'Nothing we can do, it's a civil matter' when that isn't true, etc).

Sometimes it's down to numbers. The market town where I grew up was in a large mixed rural and urban county. Our more rural half of the county only had 2 roving area cars to answer calls evenings and nights (the town's small police station closed at 5 every day) so if they'd been called to the opposite end of the area, even an urgent assistance call from my town would not be answered for the 40 minutes to 90 minutes plus it could take the area car to drive there. By which time any sensible crim would've legged it.

I think Tabitha is being sarcastic.

I know many non travellers who think that behaviour would be acceptable (and probably much worse)

I know many travellers who think that behaviour is unacceptable.

YABU. What a massive generalisation.

YABU because 'traveller' isn't a homogeneous group of people, who all behave in exactly the same way.

Is this in Dorchester?

I'd be really interested in knowing why no police action was taken against the thefts, the assaults and the antisocial behaviour complaints.

Aren't we ALL entitled to our Human Rights though...not just small groups? Decent law abiding behavior should be the norm for everyone. Shouting out 'Human Rights' doesn't allow violence, disgusting behavior, theft, littering does it?

As I see it, some are ok, some are not, just like the rest of society BUT whenever I see travellers they leave a trail of filth behind them. They park up in local areas and shit in the woods as they think it 'disgusting' to have a loo inside their caravan...and shitting outside ... when someone as to call in the men in Bio Hazard suits is ok? Shops close, people stay inside and put up barriers infront of their windows when the Travellers horse festival comes to town.

The book 'gypsy boy' made v interesting and grim reading. I do think of it every time I read about travellers

yes and who pays to clean up the mess they leave behind?

The behavior was attrocius, threatening vile language. Maybe not all travellers are like thus but the ones I've seen have all behaved in the same way.

I don't know why but we seem to have moved on from the settled community's issues with travellers over the last 20 years here in Ireland. Issues such as dumping and using any available grass to set up an encampment are much less visible. I think we must have tightened up legislation and also have provided much more suitable facilities than historically. It is relatively rare to see travellers at the side of the road anymore whereas when I was a child it was commonplace.

Real traveller social issues such as poverty, lack of education, lack of employment are still rampant though. As for antisocial behaviour, that is still there in spades within the travelling and settled communities.

Yeah, shitting on the pub door step is so traditional amongst the traveller community

totally off the thread here but Id heard gypsy boy wasn't actually written by a gypsy?
theres been a lot of speculation about that apparently.
still a very good book though.

To be honest I think the police don't know how to handle travellers so do very little to kirb antisocial behavior. Sod human rights. Shitting in public is an offence, so is littering, so is not paying for petrol and stealing. I hate this kind of behavior. Whether its from travellers or any other person or group. No town, village or city shoukd have to put up with it. Plus no one should be able to park up and turn the area into a home.

Butternut - I agree shitting all over the woods is grim. We have the same problem locally. But it is not travellers. Its lorry drivers. They park up where they like rather than pay to use the local lorry parks. They throw bottles of piss all over. They shit in peoples hedges and gardens as well as public verges and woods.

They are not travellers. They are working men, some with wives and families living in naice semis.

which is why the OP is being goady generalising about ALL travellers being like this and all non-travellers being better people. It's not true.

I've worked with Traveller communities previously and there does seem to be a huge difference in how groups on permanent sites behave and how those who move from football pitch to park behave.

There were, of course, problems with the communities who lived on the permanent sites (just like there are in any community) but nothing like those associated with the groups who move around/are forced to move around.

Hamwidge - would you recommend the book?

Every.Single.Time we have travellers descend upon my area they've broken the law and caused trouble, mess and expense.

And that's every single time for the last 18 years.

They're now camped out in the middle of our local park again and once they've been removed, they'll no doubt head straight for the local graveyard again.

After that, they'll probably head for the carpark of the local DIY store, since last time they managed to tear down the height restrictions that was put in place to keep them out.

Deep joy.

As much as people say it's wrong to generalise, I haven't any experience of travellers that isn't negative. And I know I'm not the only one. Of course it's true that plenty of non-travllers behave anti-socially. But as a percentage of the population, it's small.

I have to say though...

What are the chances of 3 men actually needing a shit at exactly the same time?

Can they dump on demand?

Real traveller social issues such as poverty, lack of education, lack of employment are still rampant though.

This is very true, look at the infant mortality rates, life expectancy, literacy rates etc for Travellers and it makes very depressing reading (and, as a teacher, I get really annoyed when you hear 'In education Black British boys/White British boys are the most underachieving group...' Traveller children claim that prize I'm afraid)

I wonder if groups on permanent sites suffer less from the above social problems (although they are still an issue) than mobile groups and that displays itself through antisocial behaviour?

It's obviously not 'all' travellers. They were travellers though. It's as ridiculous to claim that this never happens as it is to claim that it always happens.