Get to know us

Jim is an English Romani and has been a serving Police Constable with Thames Valley Police for over 20 years. He is the co founder of the GRTPA and is the current Chair. He is passionate about changing the stereotypical views that exist and about building more trust between police and GRT. His work around these issues  has helped build the association in its first year and  has helped bring it to wider  public attention.

Petr Torak was born in the Czech Republic and is of Roma / Gypsy heritage. He has fled from the Czech Republic in May 1999 to seek asylum in the United Kingdom after several racially motivated attacks by skinheads groups.

Torak is a serving Police Constable in Cambridgeshire. Since 2006 Torak has been actively engaging in improving living and working conditions of Roma families in the UK and other European countries. He is a co-founder and current Vice-Chair of Gypsy Roma Traveller Police Association, Project Coordinator at COMPAS Group and has provided tactical advice to Police Forces across the EU and to OSCE. In 2013 Torak became a qualified ROMED Mediator under the Council of Europe.

In 2015 Torak had been awarded with the Most Excellent Order of British Empire (MBE) for his community work with Roma community in Peterborough.

I am a Police Sergeant serving with Humberside Police. I have 26 years service.

I descend from Gypsy/Travellers with many names in my family. My paternal side is Boswell/Boss and many more including Wilson, this being my maiden name. My maternal side is also Boswell/Boss/Hearn/Heron and many more going back in history. Whilst I have never travelled or lived as a Gypsy/Traveller, my grandfather and every family member before him did. My interests have always centred around their culture and lifestyle. My knowledge of the Gypsy/Traveller culture is vast along with understanding the prejudices that this community face.

In terms of being a Police Officer, I have in the past found it very difficult to reveal that I have Gypsy/Traveller heritage due to the culture of the police force as a whole. However in recent years I have managed to reveal this fact and I believe this is due to me feeling comfortable with the amount of service I have with the force which allows you to have courage to challenge.

The Gypsy Roma Traveller Police Association felt a great relief to me to know that clearly there are other officers around the country with similar backgrounds feeling probably the same as me. I am delighted that this association has been created and am proud to be a member. My aim since becoming a member is to encourage colleagues and communities to feel free to talk.

I am a Nottinghamshire Police officer working at Force HQ, with 21 years service.
Having recently researched my family tree I found GRT heritage on the paternal side of my family. I joined the GRTPA soon after discovering this, and am currently the Treasurer. Having previously been a professional photographer/designer I also help out with photography (e.g. the London launch event) and also hope to use my skills to assist Jim Davies in producing & updating the teaching package he has created.

My name is Kelly Edgar, I am a serving police officer with Humberside Police. Over the last 13 years I have worked in various departments including CID, Proactive unit and currently as Community cohesion officer. As CCO I work with minority groups, investigate Hate crime and assisting with the Prevent message.

Through my work as CCO I identified that the G/T community were ‘hidden’. I found that officers attitudes and language was negative when speaking to or referring to this community. I found a similar pattern from the G/Ts in that their attitude and feelings towards the Police was also negative. Through attending static sites and unauthorised encampments I began to understand some of the difficulties faced by this community. I became a member of a multi-agency G/T partnership that meet regularly to discuss issues faced by G/T such as accessing health, education, site facilities etc..Having witnessed discrimination from other agencies towards the community, we act as a voice for them to be heard.

My colleague and I have recently delivered some officer training around the G/T culture and taking questions to establish why or what the  One thing we are very clear on is unacceptable language. Having been approached by several officers, confiding in me that they are from the G/T community, I felt that there was no support as they didn’t feel comfortable making this common knowledge. Learning about the GRTPA was a welcome surprise.

I am not a Gypsy/Traveller but feel I have a lot of experience, understanding and passion around the G/T community. I believe I would be a fantastic advocate for this community as I believe each and every one deserves to be treated equally and with respect…and as it stands now I don’t believe this to be true.

I am an English Romanichal serving for Cheshire Constabulary, an excellent force for leadership in equality.

As the Membership Director for the Association I am keen to increase our membership of GRT and non-GRT people by proactively advertising our existence in each force.

Peter Kotlar, aged 20, from Rotherham (South Yorkshire), United Kingdom is a friendly and enthusiastic young man currently working as a Police Special Constable for South Yorkshire Police. Peter is hoping to become a regular Police Officer (PC) in the very near future and will probably be working for Cheshire Police. Originating from Slovakia, the gypsy male has resided in the UK in excess of 10 years and since passing his GCSEs and getting involved with various activities, he has worked (and still works) in a secondary school focusing on helping and supporting Roma students as a Learning Support Assistant. Prior to that, he has undertaken many tasks and activities, voluntarily, to support and help people of his race. Peter is a typical young man with a keen interest in sports, his favourite being football which he plays and watches as often as he can. I would say that Peter is a born leader; he has always had strong a desire to succeed in life and to achieve anything that he puts his mind to.

Peter’s favourite saying is: “In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.”

My name is Zuzana Kotlarova and I am a Roma woman from Slovakia. Since 2005 I am employed by the Slovak Ministry of Interior, currently working as a Referent Specialist in city Humene. My main role is work with the Roma community.
In 2009 I had successfully completed a degree at Konstantin Filozof University in Nitra with the focus on social work in the Roma community. In 2013 I had completed PhDr. study at the International Business University with a particular focus on social services and advocacy. I am currently studying at University of St. Alzbeta in Bratislava towards my PhD degree.
In 2013 I was invited by the Ministry of Interior of Holland to assist with integration strategy for the Roma community living in Holland. In 2014 I was invited by the GRTPA to the UK to share my experiences with working with Roma community.

My name is Paul Čonková, I was born in Czech Republic, Ústí nad Labem. I graduated from vocational school in the field of legal administration.

In 2007 i joined the Police of the Czech Republic, I attended the annual training in Prague and I was relagated to the traffic police.

During this time I continued to study at a university in Teplice, in the field of legal administration and received a bachelor´s degree.

In 2008 I was reassigned to riot police in Ústí nad Labem, where I work until now the position of inspector. My job is to prosecution, processing and investigating criminal offenses. From 2007 to the present time I have for my job was three times the Advancement.

Currently studying sign language.