Post by justjohn on Feb 1, 2008 5:23:55 GMT -7
Poles apart
By Ruth Alexander
BBC Law in Action
Polish people in the UK are avoiding going to the police when they are victims of crime. It's a combination of cultural differences, language barriers and a lack of trust.
Conrad had only been in the UK one week when a night out in Crewe ended in violence for him and his friends.
"I was coming out of a disco with two friends and about 20 English guys followed us, calling us names about our nationality," says the Polish 24-year-old factory worker.
"When we ignored them and tried to go home we were attacked and they badly beat up my two friends."
The police were called, but not by Conrad or his friends. He says he didn't think to because he had only been in the UK a few days, he couldn't speak English and he was in a state of shock.
There is a general reluctance to report hate crime
Sgt Brian Hughes
Crewe was a popular first destination for Polish migrant workers when their country joined the EU.
The police estimate they now make up one in 10 of the town's population and like colleagues up and down the country, they say they are struggling to penetrate this large, yet constantly-shifting community.
"There is a general reluctance to report hate crime," says Sergeant Brian Hughes, an officer of Cheshire Police in Crewe. "There seems to be a cultural resistance to saying it's because of their ethnic origin."
The police are also coming up against a barrier of distrust, which stems in part from the communist era when the police in their countries of origin were arms of the government and the party.
To help they have invited senior Polish police officers to the UK.
Child abuse
"British police should remember that our society is not so friendly and not so open for co-operation," says Major Piawel Wojtunik, who was seconded to Britain for six months.
"The links between our police and our community are not so good. We will not get information about something that's wrong within a family - about child abuse, or domestic violence. It's very problematic for us in Poland."
Officers in Crewe hope that a scheme to recruit Polish volunteers as "community observers", who go out on patrol with the police, will makes the force appear more approachable.
But one young Pole who left the project says he became suspicious that what the police really wanted were informants.
Sgt Hughes has stopped wearing a uniform in order to appear less threatening and he thinks it has made a difference but there are still a significant number who won't engage with the police and prefer to take justice into their own hands.
A dispute over accidental damage to a car led to an armed battle in the street, he says. And a small number of Poles are demanding protection money from compatriots.
Frustrations
Cheshire's chief constable says there is a wider issue about a lack of information about the lives of new migrants.
Peter Fahy, who is also the Association of Chief Police Officers' spokesperson on diversity issues, is calling for an EU-wide criminal records and DNA database.
He says at the moment officers cannot get quick access to the criminal records and fingerprints of immigrant suspects.
"For the operational officers on the ground, having a person in custody this weekend and wanting to know what their background is, and even to check their identity, it is very frustrating that these things are not already in place."
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