30 minutes is allocated for questions to the Gwent Police representative.
Minutes:
Supt M Richards referred to recent crime statistics for Newport which had dropped significantly, Newport were averaging around 1600 crimes per month. During October/November last year, the police stepped up their enforcement. The results were startling, from 1650 in November to 1480 in December 2019. Figures dropped by 300 crimes in January 2020 from 1300, by comparison to last year, when there were 1600 crimes. There was a similar story for anti-social behaviour; September/November 2019 350 incidents had dropped to approximately 220 in December 2019. The results were encouraging.
A recent Your Voice Survey which was run for communities to inform police of what they would like addressed by the Police had recently closed and as a result of this the Police would publish their revised priorities.
Superintendent Mike Richards gave a brief update on activity across three policing sectors within Newport.
§ Newport West team - Sgt Phil Welty taken over from Sgt R Giles. Increase in Community Support Offices in that area. Priorities in the area were drug misuse in Frances Drive, Maesglas and Bettws. Since November, there had been four drugs warrants executed in the Pill and Bettws area. The reporting of these incidents by members of the public and councillors allowed the Police to undertake the enforcement activity. Also in the Bettws area, there were eight seizures of off road bikes. As a result, Operation Harley would continue well into Spring 2020. There had been impressive Multi agency ‘Community Walk-abouts’ in Maeslgas and Pill area, led by the Council as part of the Contextual Safeguarding Strategy. Deb Evans, who worked for Children’s Services was part of this project. Action plan for those areas taken forward.
§ Newport East team - addressing the car cruises on Sunday evening around Tesco and the Spytty retail area, J Morden, MP had been contacted and with the help of Councillor Kellaway, there was a joined up approach to address this matter; the Strategic safer Gwent Board was supporting this and inspector Cawley was leading a task and finish group to look into civil injunctions with the support of partners. 300 enforcement tickets had been issued and Tesco were using automatic plate recognition cameras. Operation Snap, was also in place on the Go Safe website, members of the public could video any antisocial behaviour on their mobile phones and upload to this website anonymously. There was an increase in anti-social behaviour in Langstone/ Llanmartin, Police were engaging with schools as mentioned at last Council and were hoping to make more visits. There was a reduction of nuisance behaviour along Durham Road. Resolving issue of fire setting in Ringland and working with schools on preventative strategies.
§ The City Centre dominated with night time economy during the Christmas and New Year, including road closures after dark. The Police were continuing to enforce PSPO, in relation to aggressive begging near cash machines, this remained a priority. Supt Richards was waiting for fixed penalty notice books from the Council, and asked the interim Chief Executive if this could be relayed to the relevant service area.
Questions from Councillors:
§ Councillor Jeavons asked if Supt Richards could you pass on his thanks to team for the work being done in Spytty and Tesco. Supt M Richards agreed, it was a difficult task and thanked everyone involved and hoped the civil injunction would be resolved.
§ Councillor Rahman, ward colleague saw a spike in drug use in Rosslyn Close, along the new housing development and Rodney Road. Drug paraphernalia was found near the residential parking area, which was private land. The councillor had contacted the Management Company, REMUS about the issue. Could police therefore patrol these areas. Another area that had an ongoing issue was under George St Bridge, on the junction of Morris Street and Corporation Road. Residents were harassed by youths near the betting shop. Councillor Rahman sought clarification regarding residents with disabled bays who had problems with people parking illegally around Victoria Ward. As there were no signs accompanying the bays, police informed residents that no fines could be issued. Supt Richards advised that tickets could be issued and would check with the local team and provide outcome.
§ Councillor C Evans advised Supt Richard of an email received from a resident who had given up reporting crimes, as they felt nothing was being done. The resident referred to the anti-social behaviour, outside the Church Hall at Wern Terrace, Rogerstone, usually from 5pm until late. Supt Richards wanted to assure the Councillor that the Police have not stopped caring and would take the details of the resident to meet up and discuss the issues.
§ Councillor M Evans was pleased to see police presence in the City Centre, although it was highlighted that aggressive begging remained a priority, this occurred regularly near cash point machines car parking ticket stations. Supt Richards advised Councillor M Evans that they were looking to amend the Public Space Protection Order to extend the 10 metre perimeter and would be entering dialogue with partners to explore this.
§ Councillor C Townsend asked what power of decision did the Police take in order to dismantle rough sleepers, it was believed that 10 officers demolished tents and removed vulnerable people. Supt Richards advised Councillor Townsend that only three police officers along with three Community Support officers, in support with the Council took part in a cleaning operation. Gwent was also one of the few authorities in Britain that had not used the Vagrancy Act. Police do not want to criminalise vulnerable people in these situations.
§ Councillor Truman raised serious concern about the speeding traffic along Chepstow Road, several accidents had occurred, including one as recently as two days previously. Supt Richards would look into this and provide an update before the week was out for Councillor Truman.
§ Councillor A Morris referred to the reduction in crime figures and asked was the increase as a result of extra patrols or smarter policing, and could more officers be employed to help with the reduction in crime. Supt Richards advised that the reduction was from proactive work targeting prolific offenders. This had a positive knock on effect. It would be nice to have more officers but realistically, there was a sufficient number of officers within the City.
§ Councillor J Guy praised Police in respect of the Crash Detective programme. It was important that it was conveyed to the wider public the multi-task work carried out and people were not aware of their hard work. Supt Richards thanked Councillor Guy for his kind words and provided an open invitation for members who would like to spend time with the police to see what their duties involved on a day to day basis across the city.
§ Councillor R Mogford referred to the drug situation and the problem was a supply and demand issue and asked if the Police had an idea of how many drug dealers there were in the city. Supt Richards advised that it was difficult to give an exact reply. Newport was renowned as a cheap area to buy drugs and people came far and wide for this reason. The problem didn’t seem to be increasing. There was an awareness of the amount of organised crime groups within Newport and that was where the work was prioritised. Supt Richards would be more than happy to sit down and talk about the organised crime groups in Newport with Councillor Mogford.
§ Councillor Whitcutt appreciated that the Police would keep pressure on drugs issue in Maesglas as it was important to recognise it was not a stand-alone crime. Drug use could lead to other crimes and domestic abuse. People in places like Maesglas, Pill and Bettws had a right to a peaceful time as well as those that lived in Rogerstone. People in these areas were decent law abiding citizens. Supt Richards had taken on this on board however, it was important for residents to report crime, as this was a genuine concern. Supt Richards finally asked that residents continued to report incidents and keep faith with the police.