Kernow : Devonwall police - committed to Cornish language & Cornwall ?

Rapport publié le 15/05/08 6:49 dans Cultures par Cathal Ó Luain pour Cathal Ó Luain

A Police Community Support Officer on patrol.

The Celtic League has focused its campaign for more Celtic cultural and linguistic commitment from the police services which serve the Celtic countries onto the force which serves Cornwall - The Devon and Cornwall Constabulary.

So far the Leagues approaches to police forces in Scotland, Wales and Mann have met with a generally positive response and this is reflected in some of the comments made by League General secretary, Rhisiart Tal-e-bot, to Devon and Cornwall's Chief Constable, Stephen Otter.

The force serving Cornwall is unique in terms of policing in the Celtic countries in that it has a operational area that transcends a National boundary. Sometimes referred to disparagingly as the «Devonwall Police» by some nationalists it remains to be seen if its trans-border structure effects its ability to identify with the Celtic component of the community it serves.

The General Secretary's query to Chief Constable Otter is set out below :

«Dear Chief Constable Stephen Otter

Devon and Cornwall Police Constabulary : Cornish language and cultural commitment

The Celtic League is currently pursuing a campaign to examine how the police forces in the Celtic countries reflect the respective distinctive cultural and linguistic heritage in each nation.

So far we have written to all the forces in Cymru/Wales, Mannin/Isle of Mann and Alba/Scotland asking them about particular aspects of their forces, especially their public image. We are generally interested to know how they believe their forces reflect the distinct cultural and linguistic heritage of the Celtic nation in which they work and if they would consider strengthening their public image in this respect.

We believe this campaign is important, because the police form part of the community it serves and as such should reflect the cultural and linguistic heritage of that local and wider community.

The League is therefore writing to you to ask how, in your opinion, your constabulary reflects the Cornish Celtic heritage and the Cornish language and what commitments you hold with regard to Cornish identity per se.

We would like to ask you to consider therefore the following questions :

1) Why can't I read your official website in the Cornish language ? 2) Why don't your police uniforms and equipment (e.g. vehicles) have the words 'police' written on them in the Cornish language alongside English ? 3) Would you consider adopting a distinct Cornish police badge, with the Cornish flag on it perhaps, as in the case of the new North Wales police badges ? 4) Are your officers able to attend free classes in the Cornish language as part of their job, should they wish to do so ? 5) Do you have a specific Cornish language policy for your force? 6) How could, in your opinion, the Devon and Cornwall Police force show more of a commitment to Cornish cultural and linguistic identity ?

We have received very positive responses from all the police constabularies that we have written to with some constabularies promising to subsequently discuss some of issues raised at the next appropriate meeting. The Isle of Man Constabulary for instance have recently responded by saying that, further to our correspondence with them, they have decided to adopt a Manx Gaelic phrase to be put onto all of its marked vehicles by the end of this summer. In consideration that only approximately 1 % of the Manx population speak Gaelic (which is about the same as speakers of Cornish), is this an option that you would perhaps consider for your force in Cornwall ?

We would also very much appreciate answers to the above questions and will look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours sincerely

Rhisiart Tal-e-bot General Secretary»