Leeswood

Tackling retail crime

Retail crime is not a victimless crime and Flintshire South teams remain committed to tackling these offences proactively through a variety of methods. Retail crime not only affects retailers but also affects the retail workers and members of the public who may witness these incidents. Retail theft drives up prices for all of us and is often committed by those who are involved in other streams of criminality. Op Belt is our operation to tackle these offenders, we have a dedicated team who review every retail crime that is reported and they focus on obtaining early evidence, such as CCTV and witness statements, which assists in identifying offenders quickly and creating packages for arrest. The neighbourhood team are then able to concentrate on actioning these packages and bringing suspects into custody. This helps to ensure that offenders are brought to justice in a timely manner and before there are repeated offences committed. Early intervention also assists with recovery of stolen property which is also good evidence when building a case to put before the courts. Out of court interventions, such as Checkpoint, are also utilised where offenders may be vulnerable or at risk of further offending for various reasons – this signposting to alternative pathways has a high rate of success in preventing future offending which in turn reduces demand. We also work closely with other partner agencies to identify offenders, such as Cheshire Police, Broughton Shopping Park and Flintshire against Business Crime, attending regular meetings to discuss reported offences and review CCTV footage as well as organising action days where teams are deployed in plain clothes focusing on high demand areas.

Violence against women and girls (VAWG)

Flintshire South policing team are committed to proactively tackling the problem of violence against women and girls, looking at reducing offending and safeguarding victims through positive action and education. The Neighbourhood team are currently delivering sessions to 6th form students at Mold Alun High School, educating and offering advice to both male and female students separately. This is a pilot scheme at present however should the feedback from the school and the students be positive we will be looking at rolling this out to all students in years 10,11,12 and 13. Not only is this a great opportunity to break down barriers between young people and the police, allowing them to chat with us in a safe familiar space, it also allows female students to share privately through feedback, personal experiences they may have had in relation to VAWG. These examples are then shared with the male students, to raise awareness of how their behaviour and actions can be interpreted and to discuss how this can be avoided. This sort of education is so important at this stage, many of these students will soon be leaving home for university, and it is paramount that they are made aware of these issues so they can identify early signs of unhealthy relationships and to give them the confidence to report any offences. It is also important to ensure that the male students know what constitutes an offence, focusing on anti-misogyny and awareness of how their own behaviour can, unintentionally, affect others. We will also be rolling out advisory posters into local shops and pubs, ensuring that awareness is raised and providing reassurance that victims will be listened to.

Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour

As we move into the summer period the Flintshire South policing team are focussing on reducing ASB in our areas, from youths causing a nuisance to adults causing neighbour issues. The warmer weather naturally causes an increase in this sort of behaviour as more people spend time outside during the longer, lighter evenings. Our approach will include increased patrols in hotspot areas, proactive responses, and referrals to partner agencies. We continue to work with our housing partners to tackle these issues and between us, over the past few months, we have issued 7 x ABC (acceptable behaviour contracts) to several residents to prevent further escalation of ASB. Housing providers have also issued tenancy warnings because of ASB in their properties. We continue to hold regular meetings with several partner agencies, including Flintshire Housing, Clwyd Alyn, Wales and West, as well as licensing, Youth Justice and Flintshire SORTED. Joint visits and patrols are undertaken where there is increased demand and both response and neighbourhood teams have a targeted patrol plan looking at these areas. Flintshire South neighbourhood team are also working closely with trading standards to tackle the locations and retail premises that contribute to ASB in our communities, sharing information and intelligence and assisting in warrants. The neighbourhood team also hold regular meetings in relation to ShopWatch and PubWatch in the Mold and Buckley areas. Pubwatch assists in tackling alcohol related ASB and offending by working together, with the licensing team and North Wales Police, to ban problem individuals, and through supporting each other with information and intelligence. Whilst these issues are caused by a small minority of offenders, they are often persistent in their alcohol related behaviour, and there are currently 39 persons banned for various reasons. Shopwatch focuses on ASB within retail premises with the aim of identifying serial offenders and taking positive action to reduce this, thereby safeguarding retail staff and ensuring others can shop without fear of experiencing ASB related behaviour.