Hello and welcome to my monthly column. My name is Huw Jones and I am the local Neighbourhood Policing Inspector for Abergavenny, Usk and Monmouth.
In this column I will provide you with an update on the work on-going in Abergavenny, which I hope you find useful and informative.
Anti-social Behaviour
The main issue the team is tackling at the moment is anti-social behaviour at Fairfield Car Park and the car cruisers. We have received further reports now from residents in Glangavenny where the cruisers seem to be congregating, during the bad weather. My officers have been tasked to patrol these areas and I would hope that this is having an effect. I have authorised a number of Dispersal Orders over the past few months to deal specifically with this but this is only a short term fix to the problem. As you may have seen, the layout of the car park has been changed and we are implementing the closure of the car park.
Crime
We have previously seen an increase in the number of burglaries in Wyesham, Osbaston, Abergavenny and Goytre. As a result of this, I organised a proactive operation and am pleased to report that during this period we did not have any burglaries reported to us. These incidents are being investigated by our CID officers and I would remind you all of the need to be vigilant. If anyone would like a crime prevention survey then my community officers would be more than willing to come and see you.
Parking
We are also still receiving several complaints about illegal parking across Abergavenny. The Neighbourhood Team has responded to this and parking tickets have been issued. The main area where these have been issued is Cross Street in Abergavenny. During the ‘Your Voice’ surveys this has again been identified as an issue and the team will be paying particular attention to this over the coming months, with the support of Monmouthshire Council.
The ‘Your Voice’ campaign surveys were completed by over 1500 residents in Monmouthshire North. This gives us a good indication of what is affecting you as residents and helps us to decide where we will focus our activity over the coming months.
Road Safety
A successful road safety initiative has been carried out, in partnership with South Wales Fire Service. This resulted in 19 motorists being stopped for using a mobile phone or not wearing a seatbelt. Each motorist was shown a hard hitting video on road safety as an alternative to prosecution with the feedback from them being very positive. We plan on running a few more of these in the near future, so be warned.
Following a really mild few months, the colder weather has finally caught up with us. If you are going out, please wrap up warm and take extra care on the roads. Make sure you fully de-ice your car before setting off but don’t be tempted to leave the engine running, when you pop back into the warm! We’ve seen cars stolen off driveways because of this in previous years, so please don’t fall foul of this.
For those of you I haven’t spoken to already, happy new year and all the best for 2016. Don’t forget, you can keep in touch and up to date with all the latest information, by following us on Twitter @gpabergavenny
Best wishes
Inspector Huw Jones
