Eliminating communities? Exploring the implications of policing methods used to manage New Travellers

This paper sets out to explore the implications of the management of New Travellers by police under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 (CJPOA). Based on empirical research the paper initially describes the New Travellers experience of policing and the law prior to and post the CJPOA's enactment. Having established that New Travellers rarely experience the law through the courts, but instead are policed using a range of methods including those provided by the CJPOA, the paper moves on to analyse the implications of such management. It concludes by surmising that the New Travellers are a community who are culturally excluded through extensive policing and legislation which could result in the elimination of their community and others similarly defined as 'dangerous'.