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?

there are plenty of posts too from those who have worked in or near, or live/lived near travellers sites and never had any problem at all - myself included. we accept that bad things happen. we just say it depends on the individual people, not whether or not they are travellers. for all we know every instance of antisocial behaviour reported on here may have been the same group of people in different places!

sometimes negativity from locals may provoke travellers into reacting badly. sometimes their presence is used as a cover for other petty criminals. you seem not to accept that this is possible? that the travellers deserve/should only expect to be ostracised , ridiculed, viewed with suspicion and distain?

all we are asking is that you concede that it is wrong to tar all travellers with the same brush.

I was once verbally assaulted by a Welshman - I am sure I could find others who have experienced the same - it was very scarey - this does not cloud my opinion of welsh people.
my brother was once badly beaten up by Asian youths - we hold nothing against Asian youths - it was a coupe of bad uns, that's all.

my experience was alot of very drunk travellers who had been to a funeral locally. I think they were irish.

I asked one older bloke in the group pleasantly if he could move his chair in as I couldnt sit down at the table i was sitting at. he looked at me like I was lowlife and he was intimidating.

later one of the ladies in the wider group got her face hit with a bottle by one of the men, the police were called.

It wasnt a good experience and they totally took over pub.

I know not all travellers are like that.

The travellers I have lived by who are in settled communities usually travelled and worked during the summer months. Or at least a proportion of them did...there was always someone there.

What makes me fearful is how the casual racism on here is allowed by MNHQ, and accepted by all these apparently well educated MNers

It's bad isn't it.

Very disappointing.

"There must be a reason," "there's no smoke without fire."

Yeah, we've heard all that before. Although some people in this thread don't like historical comparisons, surely anyone with an ounce of awareness knows that these same tired words have been repeated over and over as a smokescreen for blind, unthinking prejudice.

Can someone please tell me why my comment was deleted. What guidelines was it breaking? I'm totally confused by this.

I have more years policing experience than I care to remember throughout the country and have been involved with more traveler camps than I can count.

Unfortunately my experience has always been, without exception wholly negative. I'd see reports that a community had arrived at a site and pretty much straight away we would start to see an explosion of "low level" crime - theft, vandalism, burglary, not to mention stuff like littering, fly tipping etc. Not very "low level" for the people who have to live there mind you.

And course policing these camps was a nightmare. They're pretty much impossible to enter without causing a riot. Being pelted with balloons filled with bodily fluids if you're lucky, diesel if you're not, being attacked with dogs and being threatened with firearms are pretty much par for the course.

My experience of traveling camps has been that they are a plague where-ever they land and leave desolation in their wake. Oh, and the shit stories - absolutely true. I've seen so many reports of traveler related incidents involving shit it stopped being of note years ago.

Of course, I may have just have been really really really really unlucky in my experience of travelers. I'm sure there's loads of really nice ones out there.

Non travellers often steal petrol.
There is a scam of filling up with petrol, wondering round the shelves of the garage and combined supermarket for 5 minutes, buying a loaf and not volunteering to pay for the petrol.
They pretend they didn't put petrol in the car, then they drive off.
Technically, it is not stealing unless the assistant asks if they bought petrol and they lie and say no.

Very Naice people do often do it!

WHY WAS MY POST DELETED?? I made a comment regarding how most of our interactions are with white brits yet we condemn other races and creeds based on one or two interactions. There have been many more inflammatory posts but they still stand. What guidelines did I breach?

There are a lot of permanent traveller sites near me - they seem to be peaceful hardworking people, their children attend the local catholic school and although the parents attitude towards education is lax the children and school as a whole are achieving well.
In fact - when it comes to doing jobs - gardens/ drives etc their standard of work is higher.

We have also had many visiting travellers - those who got into the Leisure centre grassy area left poo and mess but were not disruptive beyond their actual presence - and by that I mean when you went to the open area some how you felt like you were trespassing on their space!

I'm ignoring the sweeping generalisation of the OP as he/she is obviously pissed off but YANBU to feel their behaviour was unacceptable.

Well I would except in all my years I've never another encountered another minority group where my experience has been completely and wholly negative.

I have checked my e mail andt there's no message regarding why my post was deleted. I am really angry about this. All these horrible racist posts yet mine gets deleted. What on earth for?

I think I agree with you coconutty. The point I made was that most of the horrible encounters I've had are with white brits but people tend to focus on isolated incidents with folks of other races and make sweeping generalisations on that basis. No idea why it was reported and deleted. Realise I am banging on, but feeling a bit singled out for criticism.

Welterstrip I feel that your experiences are the ones that the liberal elite don't really want to hear or acknowledge. This thread is a perfect example of how deluded people are, at least Police interactions are logged and recorded, no one can accuse you of mere anecdotes. You've got data, plenty of it that proves the level of disruption that elements of this community can cause.

sometimes the travellers arent another race, often they are irish as some of my ancestors were but they tend to be insular and want to lead a different lifestyle, they are caucasian.

This thread is depressing with all the bigots and racists.

Al0uise; of course, white people are perfect.
They don't cause disruption to any communities.

They don't steal, piss or shit in the streets.

It is obviously true that only travellers cause crime in this country.

I find it rather strange that welter is commenting that through the police they have had wholly bad experiences with travellers considering surely that would be the reason why the police would become involved in a group. This doesn't mean that all travellers behave this way just that there is no reason for the police to come into contact with those who do behave? Or is it just me being stupid???

I'm sure they're trawling through a Friday night mn thread. I see no examples of Hate. Care to highlight them for the team, y'know make their job a bit easier.

I see no examples of Hate. Care to highlight them for the team

you wont see them,MN has deleted them and from what I,ve seen a few of yours have been deleted.