Officers in Caerphilly have been targeting anti-social behaviour and underage drinking over the last 3 weekends to crackdown on large groups of young children swarming the town centre during the evenings.
Officers from the Ystrad Mynach Neighbourhood Policing Team have been conducting high visibility patrols of the area, as well as speaking to young people about their behaviour. In total, officers have so far stopped over 140 individuals – letters have been sent to the parent/guardian of each individual detailing the behaviour of the individual.
Anti-social behaviour is a current PACT (Partners and Communities Together) priority for the Ystrad Mynach area and officers are taking significant steps towards ensuring that a small minority of people will not get away with affecting the quality of life of the majority.
PCSO Gareth Coombes said: “We are continuing to target anti-social behaviour in Ystrad Mynach in order to further improve the quality of life for local residents. We will continue our proactive patrols, particularly concentrating on areas that residents have highlighted are of most concern to them.”
PS Andrew Massaro explains: “With the increasing use of social networking sites to inform each other of where groups of friends will be during the evening – we are now seeing large groups of children forming around the town centre which can be extremely intimidating for residents.
“On one evening, officers were dealing with over 90 youths, clearly in possession of alcohol and acting in an anti-social manner, causing alarm and distress to local residents, which is unacceptable and will not be tolerated! We want to remind youths that we are taking a strong stance on anti-social behaviour in the area– there have already been a number of arrests for drink related anti-social behaviour over the last 3 weekends.”
Cllr Lyn Ackerman, Cabinet Member for the Environment said, “By undertaking joint operations such as this, we are sending out the unified message that anti-social behaviour and underage drinking will not be tolerated in our area.
“Our team of Community Safety Wardens have worked tirelessly with colleagues at Gwent Police on this, and numerous other occasions to both address anti-social behaviour and underage drinking and to show a uniformed presence on the streets, therefore providing a reassurance to local residents”.
The next PACT meeting for the Ystrad Mynach ward will be held at Siloh Christian Centre, Oakfield Street, Ystrad Mynach, CF82 7AF on Tuesday 18th January 2011 at 6pm.
If you are unable to make any of the above PACT meetings in your ward area you can always contact your neighbourhood policing teams on: 01443 865 595 or e-mail: [email protected]
To find out what is happening in your neighbourhood and more about your local Neighbourhood Policing Team visit www.gwent.police.uk and enter your postcode.
You can also follow them on twitter www.twitter.com/gwentpolice and find them on Facebook www.facebook.com/gwentpolice
