- Aug 8, 2005
- 27,229
PC Darren Balkham*
What is banter?
I thought my next blog should look at what Sussex Police does to try and combat homophobia within football.*
Now let me make it very clear - I recognise that there is other discrimination associated with sport and social groups. I use the word discrimination as it has a very broad meaning. It can be interpreted in many ways and some can use it to their own advantage where clearly they are not being discriminated against. This detracts from where there is clear discrimination. A common retort police officers are faced with is “What about my human rights?”. Well, in fairness, some things are not a right but a privilege.
The city of Brighton and Hove is sometimes called cosmopolitan. That’s an understatement! It’s a vibrant city that has its issues, just like any other city. It has its eccentric side, it has its social issues and it also has a large LGBT community. This means, just like in other cities and towns, our policing has to come from the community we serve. It is made up of individuals with different life experiences bringing their own skills to the city we police. Police officers do not need a*degree, they need common sense. They need to understand the community they work in and gain the respect of the public to assist them in their day-to-day lives. Some names to mention at this stage would be PC Rachel Piggott and PC Rich Bridger and the excellent work they do within the LGBT community. This is a very difficult job with people who may distrust the police or, maybe due to their own personal choice / circumstances, do not know which way to turn. Their work sometimes can’t be measured by figures but we would be letting the people of Brighton and Hove down if this kind of neighbourhood policing wasn’t in place.
So, how does this affect me and my role? Well affect is probably the wrong word and forgive me for my clumsiness with some of my vocabulary. As stated earlier, I am not an officer who obtained many qualifications.* What*I have learned is through life experience and listening. As we start the new season,*Brighton and Hove Albion will be playing a minimum of 48 games against opposition from all over the country. They will be visiting towns and cities which also have their own respective issues and challenges for each individual force. One thing I will guarantee is that chanting of a homophobic nature will be heard at, I would say, 70% + of their games. So what do we do about it? Well let’s be honest here -* if 500 people are chanting “does your boyfriend know you’re here?” are we going to arrest them? No. Are the stewards going to eject them? No. Is it a criminal offence? I will let you answer that in your head because I bet if 12 people answered that question not all would have the same answer.
We (Sussex Police) lobbied the FA to change the ground regulations. The regulations already made it very clear that racist language was a breach and, therefore, you were likely to be ejected/arrested if you made these comments. The ground regulations now state that racist and/or homophobic language is a breach. This is a major step forward as the responsibility for the stadium is down to the club. In fairness to the FA, once this was asked for, it was put in place. A little bit quicker than goal line technology…..
Brighton fans have come up with their own comeback to the earlier taunt. “You’re too ugly to be gay” is often sung back, especially at away games. This*somewhat confuses the home supporters but there is normally a begrudging acknowledgement to a witty comeback.
Now the question still stands - is the above a criminal offence? I would say no. Is it a breach of the ground regulations? Yes, without doubt. But discretion is often used by safety officers in regard to how this is dealt with.*
If this was the level of chanting that Brighton experienced then I think the matter would be easy to deal with. But*it’s not. There has been vile chanting at some matches. I will not repeat this*or specify where as,*if you are a Brighton fan, you will know what I mean. But worse sometimes are the reactions / no action of the stewards / police. This infuriates supporters more than anything. Again I go back to earlier in this blog - they don’t expect everyone to be*ejected / arrested. They do expect to see behaviour challenged and the ringleaders dealt with.
I have said this before and truly believe this.*In dealing with homophobia, we are 20 years behind where we are with racist behaviour at games. If someone is racist at a match then there would be more than one spectator pointing out the individual. If homophobic comments are made some*people still think it is funny - like Brighton fans have not heard it before!
What is an evolving issue is the social media aspect (he says writing this through social media!) Twitter and Facebook are great tools but can also be the downfall of many. *I’d stick with one simple rule. If you would not say it to the face of the person, don’t write it.*
A little while ago I was at home and my phone started to go mad.*The number of texts I received made me check the phone (something I try not to do when off duty but*nearly always break the rule). I was alerted to some quite vicious homophobic tweeting. This was a major topic on one of Brighton’s main message boards, some criticising police involvement, some telling others to get a life. It was interesting to read the ‘judge and jury approach’.*By the next morning we had identified the three individuals responsible. I also spoke to a fan who was particularly affected by the comments and who gave me a very personal victim statement about what had happened to them and their partner when they had both been bullied. So do I now arrest the three? I could, but what would that achieve? It would leave them with a possible criminal record and maybe ruin their lives, all for the sake of complete ignorance and stupidity from behind a keyboard. Well, after consultation with those affected, I am visiting the three houses of the males and sitting down with their parents talking through their actions.
So, I leave you with this thought: before you tweet or Facebook something, is it acceptable to say it to someone’s face? If you would not say it to friends you know, then do not say it to strangers or hide behind a keyboard.
Banter is fine in football and should be encouraged. It is part of the fabric of football. But think about what is banter and what is not.
What is banter?
I thought my next blog should look at what Sussex Police does to try and combat homophobia within football.*
Now let me make it very clear - I recognise that there is other discrimination associated with sport and social groups. I use the word discrimination as it has a very broad meaning. It can be interpreted in many ways and some can use it to their own advantage where clearly they are not being discriminated against. This detracts from where there is clear discrimination. A common retort police officers are faced with is “What about my human rights?”. Well, in fairness, some things are not a right but a privilege.
The city of Brighton and Hove is sometimes called cosmopolitan. That’s an understatement! It’s a vibrant city that has its issues, just like any other city. It has its eccentric side, it has its social issues and it also has a large LGBT community. This means, just like in other cities and towns, our policing has to come from the community we serve. It is made up of individuals with different life experiences bringing their own skills to the city we police. Police officers do not need a*degree, they need common sense. They need to understand the community they work in and gain the respect of the public to assist them in their day-to-day lives. Some names to mention at this stage would be PC Rachel Piggott and PC Rich Bridger and the excellent work they do within the LGBT community. This is a very difficult job with people who may distrust the police or, maybe due to their own personal choice / circumstances, do not know which way to turn. Their work sometimes can’t be measured by figures but we would be letting the people of Brighton and Hove down if this kind of neighbourhood policing wasn’t in place.
So, how does this affect me and my role? Well affect is probably the wrong word and forgive me for my clumsiness with some of my vocabulary. As stated earlier, I am not an officer who obtained many qualifications.* What*I have learned is through life experience and listening. As we start the new season,*Brighton and Hove Albion will be playing a minimum of 48 games against opposition from all over the country. They will be visiting towns and cities which also have their own respective issues and challenges for each individual force. One thing I will guarantee is that chanting of a homophobic nature will be heard at, I would say, 70% + of their games. So what do we do about it? Well let’s be honest here -* if 500 people are chanting “does your boyfriend know you’re here?” are we going to arrest them? No. Are the stewards going to eject them? No. Is it a criminal offence? I will let you answer that in your head because I bet if 12 people answered that question not all would have the same answer.
We (Sussex Police) lobbied the FA to change the ground regulations. The regulations already made it very clear that racist language was a breach and, therefore, you were likely to be ejected/arrested if you made these comments. The ground regulations now state that racist and/or homophobic language is a breach. This is a major step forward as the responsibility for the stadium is down to the club. In fairness to the FA, once this was asked for, it was put in place. A little bit quicker than goal line technology…..
Brighton fans have come up with their own comeback to the earlier taunt. “You’re too ugly to be gay” is often sung back, especially at away games. This*somewhat confuses the home supporters but there is normally a begrudging acknowledgement to a witty comeback.
Now the question still stands - is the above a criminal offence? I would say no. Is it a breach of the ground regulations? Yes, without doubt. But discretion is often used by safety officers in regard to how this is dealt with.*
If this was the level of chanting that Brighton experienced then I think the matter would be easy to deal with. But*it’s not. There has been vile chanting at some matches. I will not repeat this*or specify where as,*if you are a Brighton fan, you will know what I mean. But worse sometimes are the reactions / no action of the stewards / police. This infuriates supporters more than anything. Again I go back to earlier in this blog - they don’t expect everyone to be*ejected / arrested. They do expect to see behaviour challenged and the ringleaders dealt with.
I have said this before and truly believe this.*In dealing with homophobia, we are 20 years behind where we are with racist behaviour at games. If someone is racist at a match then there would be more than one spectator pointing out the individual. If homophobic comments are made some*people still think it is funny - like Brighton fans have not heard it before!
What is an evolving issue is the social media aspect (he says writing this through social media!) Twitter and Facebook are great tools but can also be the downfall of many. *I’d stick with one simple rule. If you would not say it to the face of the person, don’t write it.*
A little while ago I was at home and my phone started to go mad.*The number of texts I received made me check the phone (something I try not to do when off duty but*nearly always break the rule). I was alerted to some quite vicious homophobic tweeting. This was a major topic on one of Brighton’s main message boards, some criticising police involvement, some telling others to get a life. It was interesting to read the ‘judge and jury approach’.*By the next morning we had identified the three individuals responsible. I also spoke to a fan who was particularly affected by the comments and who gave me a very personal victim statement about what had happened to them and their partner when they had both been bullied. So do I now arrest the three? I could, but what would that achieve? It would leave them with a possible criminal record and maybe ruin their lives, all for the sake of complete ignorance and stupidity from behind a keyboard. Well, after consultation with those affected, I am visiting the three houses of the males and sitting down with their parents talking through their actions.
So, I leave you with this thought: before you tweet or Facebook something, is it acceptable to say it to someone’s face? If you would not say it to friends you know, then do not say it to strangers or hide behind a keyboard.
Banter is fine in football and should be encouraged. It is part of the fabric of football. But think about what is banter and what is not.
