 Building links with gypsies 8. 8. 2005
A police officer is hoping to transform the lives of travelling and gypsy communities, thanks to a three-year study.
Sergeant John Coxhead (39) is the gypsy and traveller liaison officer at Derbyshire police, where he acts as the contact point for the county's travellers.
He decided to go to the University of Derby three years ago to study for an education doctorate, in an effort to improve relations between the police, public and travelling and gypsy communities across the country.
And now the findings of his thesis, Moving Forward, could be used as a benchmark in England and internationally.
Although there are no figures for how many travellers and gypsies there are in Derbyshire, there are an estimated 300,000 across the country,
He took on the role of traveller liaison officer six years ago, after he was posted as a patrol sergeant to the north of the county where there was a static travellers' site.
He said: "The police needed a contact point and that's how it started. It just grew from there.
Historically, the relationship between the travelling communities and the rest of the country, including the way police deal with things, has been poor.
I wanted to find ways to develop the policing of these situations, which in turn will gain the trust of the travelling communities."
Last year, while working on his thesis, Sgt Coxhead entered a joint application with the Gypsy Liaison Group into the Queen's Awards for Innovation and Development in police training.
It was open to entrants in the UK and Commonwealth, and the project, which also formed part of his thesis, was about how to improve community relations with travellers and to train police officers.
It was one of four winning projects and as a result of this, he now has to go back to the Home Office with his final paper.
He said: "The Home Office wanted to know the result of the project, which is in the thesis, but there's also a lot about long-term issues and 29 recommendations to police and public services on how to improve the situation.
I'm optimistic that we've tapped into the authentic issues, we've been talking to the community and listening."
He added: "A broad theme in Moving Forward is that the whole training approach to race and diversity in the police and criminal justice services must change.
There needs to be ethical leadership and the necessary skills to coach people and overcome prejudice by working with communities."
A University of Derby spokesman said: "We applaud John's commitment and the comprehensive research he has undertaken as part of his doctoral studies in education, not only on a national but also on an international scale.
"His study is sure to provide the Home Office with food for thought."
(Derby Evening Telegraph, by Veronica Lorraine)
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