c/o Hemel Hempstead police station

Combe Street

Hemel Hempstead

Hertfordshire

HP11HL

07906573293

PPA Executive Committee

• PC Andrew Pardy - Chair Hertfordshire Constabulary

• Insp Simon Elgar - Vice Chair Kent Police

• PC David Bullock - Treasurer Humberside Police

• Sgt Victoria Richards - General Secretary Hertfordshire Constabulary

• Sgt Simon Woods - Internal Liaison Hampshire Constabulary

• Sgt Phil Golding - Social Secretary Metropolitan Police

• PC Gary Hemmings - Chaplaincy Liaison Thames Valley Police

PPA Point of Contact officers

• PC Andrew Pardy Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire

• PC Andrew Stuart Devon & Cornwall, Dorset and Avon & Somerset

• PC David Bullock Humberside

• PC Gary Hemmings Thames Valley and Wiltshire

• Shirley McMichael Police Service of Northern Ireland

• David Speight Yorkshire

Point of Contact Officers

If you are interested in becom-

ing a Point of Contact officer for

the PPA, please let us know!

We are currently working on the

Role Description for Point of

Contact officers, but the role will

mainly involve the dissemination

of information to and from the

PPA to individual police forces,

and being an initial contact for

individuals who are seeking

support or information from the

PPA.

Membership

If you are interested in

becoming a member of the

Police Pagan Association

please e-mail our Treasurer on

david.bullock@humberside.

pnn.police.uk for a

membership application form.

Membership is £15 for the first

year, and £12 per annum

afterwards. The PPA is entirely

self-funded, and your

membership fees help us with

printing and promotion costs,

and any costs incurred when

assisting our members.

WEBSITE

The official PPA website, which

can be found at

www.policepaganassociation.

org is currently undergoing

reconstruction to meet the

standards specified by the

Home Office and ACPO which

were agreed in our latest

Business Plan. It is our intention

to include an event diary, a

single point of contact telephone

number and e-mail address and

documentation which can be

downloaded when required.

The Pagan Federation 40th Anniversary Event

The Pagan Federation held a two-day event

at the Royal Geographical Society in

Kensington on 8th October 2011 to celebrate

it’s 40th anniversary. A number of high-profile

representatives from the Pagan world were

present, and I was honoured to be invited to

represent the PPA at such a landmark event.

Day one of the event took the form of an all-day con-

ference comprising of various talks, presentations and

workshops in the many rooms provided.

After the welcome presentation by Chris Crowley and

Prudence Jones in the Ondaatjie Theatre the extensive

timetable included such well-known Pagan names as

Pete Jennings, Emma Restall-Orr and Ronald Hutton.

The PPA presentation coincided with those by Caitlin

Matthews, Vivianne Crowley and others but was still

well attended, the room full to capacity - both seated

and standing!

The presentation itself came under the banner of

‘Paganism in the Workplace’ and, although inclusive of

the dreaded Powerpoint was intended to be a brief and

factual overview of what it meant to be a Pagan in

today’s police service, and how the job fitted into the

life of a practicing Pagan.

I’m pleased to say that the presentation was well re-

ceived and many questions were asked once we were

ushered out of the room to make way for the next

presenter - Dr. Graham Harvey of the Open University.

Other than the likes of ACPO, the NPIA and members

of the Home Office, this was the first external presenta-

tion to the public - I don’t mind saying that I was more

than a little nervous, despite having the support of a

few colleagues from the Executive Committee and

PPA members in the audience…

The questions that followed comprised generally of

polite enquiry and specifically of recognition of how

difficult it can be to be openly Pagan in a world that is

often perceived to be resistant to change.

Our first presentation to the Pagan public was a posi-

tive one, and we can all take reassurance that the work

that we are doing to raise the profile of Paganism in

the police service and the communities that we serve

is a worthwhile cause, and one which is well supported

by those we seek to represent.

this issue

The PF 40th Anniversary Event P.1

Channel 4 Documentary P.2

PPA Business Plan 2011 P.3

Contacts P.4

I S S U E

F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 2

03

Police Pagan Association Quarterly Newsletter Issue 03 February 2012

POLICE PAGAN ASSOCIATION QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER

From left: Simon Wood - Internal Support liaison, Andrew Pardy - Chair, and Simon Elgar - Vice Chair.

Andrew Pardy (PPA Chair) and

Simon Wood (PPA Internal

Liaison) have both been inter-

viewed by none other than

Professor Ronald Hutton for a

documentary to be aired on

Channel 4 in 2012.

The documentary, although primarily

about the life of Gerald Gardner - the

creator of modern Wicca - also co-

vers the changing face of Paganism

as a whole and how perceptions of

Paganism are changing today.

Interviewed alongside the likes of

Adam Pamment, representing

The Pagan Oath

In January this year one of our

members encountered a problem

when he requested to take the

Pagan Oath before giving evi-

dence at Crown Court.

The officer, who has used the

Pagan Oath in court before, was

stopped by the presiding judge,

who went on to state that the

Pagan Oath was not recognized,

leaving the officer with no option

but to affirm.

In addition, the officer was

bought up before the judge fol-

lowing adjournment and told that

the wording of the Pagan Oath

was not recognized within the

Oaths Act and should not be

used again!

I am pleased to say that the PPA

were able to intervene and speak

directly to the Court Manager.

With the assistance from the

Ministry of Justice and Her Maj-

esty’s Court Service we were

able to direct the Court Manager

and the Judge involved to the

legislation covering the use of

the Pagan Oath.

The Pagan Oath was introduced

by the Home Office in 2007 and

is recognized by Her Majesty’s

Court Service as a lawfully bind-

ing and legal oath; all courts

must, by law, have a copy of the

oath that is accessible to anyone

who gives evidence.

The PPA Business Plan 2011

Changes to the

Executive

Jon Randall, who had served as

the PPA External Liaison since

it was formed in 2009, is no

longer a member of the PPA or

the Executive Committee.

Following an incident which was

at odds with the existing PPA

Constitution Jon offered his

resignation. At an emergency

meeting of the Executive Com-

mittee the resignation was not

accepted and, given the severi-

ty of the issue at hand, the

decision was made to terminate

membership with immediate

effect.

Documents

The PPA has produced a num-

ber of documents in relation to

policing and policy from a Pa-

gan perspective.

Documents include:

PPA Business Plan 2011

PPA Constitution 2011

PPA Role Profiles

Funerary Guidance

Custody Procedure

Bullying & Harassment Policy

These documents will soon be

available for download from our

website, in the meantime if you

require a copy please contact

the PPA General Secretary on

victoria.richard@herts.pnn.

police.uk.

Pagans in the UK Border Forces, and

Christina Oakey-Harrington of Tread-

wells Bookstore fame, PPA Chair

Andrew Pardy was interviewed di-

rectly by Prof. Hutton regarding the

modern-day image of Paganism and

how it had been irrevocably influ-

enced by the introduction of Wicca.

The documentary is the first of its

kind, and is another step in the right

direction regarding the public image

of modern Paganism. Although due

to be aired in 2012 on Channel 4, no

date has yet been set. A video trailer

of the programme can be found at

http://vimeo.com/35964445 .

Moot Disturbance

A protest arranged by a militant Chris-

tian group against a Pagan Moot

caused Dorset Police to seek the

assistance of the PPA in late 2011.

The group, known as the Christian

Soldiers of Dorset, stated

“We are a new Christian movement in

Dorset, set up to warn people, espe-

cially the young, of the dangers of

getting involved in the occult. To this

end we aim to hold peaceful vigils

outside occult events, in the hope of

turning people away from the path of

evil towards God’s love.”

The Community Policing Team for

Bridport, where the Moot is held each

month, sought advice from the PPA

as to how to fairly police the situation

whilst ensuring that the Moot at-

tendees could carry on unmolested

whilst upholding the Christian groups

right to lawful protest.

Following a flurry of press activity and

police presence the Christian Soldiers

of Dorset failed to show; the Moot -

which attracted an unusually high

attendance - went on as usual.

Eric the Horse

The PPA are assisting Devon & Corn-

wall Police after they made contact

when an attack on a prize stallion in

Stithians was rumoured to be ritualis-

tic in nature by the media.

In 2011 the Home Office, AC-

PO and the NPIA agreed upon

a Business Plan submitted by

the PPA.

The plan, which details the Core

values and Strategic Objectives of

the PPA, is a requirement for any

DSSA if it is to receive government

support and sit alongside the likes of

the Black Police Association and the

British Association for Women in

Policing at the Stakeholder Meetings

at which procedure and legislation

are discussed and formalized.

The PPA has already started work on

several aspects of the Business Plan,

with further projects in the pipeline.

One of those projects is the imple-

mentation of a Bullying and Harass-

ment Policy, which is currently under-

going finalisation.

The PPA are also incorporating a

single point of contact phone number

which members, constabularies and

partner agencies can contact if they

require assistance or guidance from

the PPA.

Work is also underway to incorporate

First Point of Contact officers in each

constabulary. I am pleased to say

that we already have several volun-

teers for these roles for a number of

areas, and that I hope to have the

finalized documents relating to the

specifications of the role available by

mid 2012.

The PPA welcomes your input into

any of these projects; please contact

us via the PPA website.

Suggestions?

The PPA would like to hear from you if

you have any suggestions for the

newsletter.

If you have any news, whether police relat-

ed, Pagan related, or both, please feel free

to contact us on 07906573293, or via the our

official website at

www.policepaganassociation.org.

We are considering including a small section for local

Events and Moots, so if you would like to promote an

event here, let us know!

We would also welcome any suggestions for

articles from our members, so if you have a

poem, book, photograph or anecdote that

you would like to share, please feel free to

contact us; all submissions considered!

Alternatively, find us on Facebook at

www.facebook.com/policepaganassociation.

Britain’s Wicca Man - Channel 4

Following an introduction to Eleanor

Bennet, the Managing Director of the

newly established Pagan Radio

website, PPA Chair Andrew Pardy

was invited for an interview for their

‘Pagan People’ programme.

The station, which started broad-

casting in February, has a varied

Pagan Radio

schedule covering music, workshops,

interviews and discussion.

Their website can be found at

www.paganradio.co.uk.