Intelligence Policing by Detective Sergeant Paul Jones

 

Hello everyone, my name is Paul Jones, I am the Detective Sergeant for the Eastern Intelligence Unit (EIU). 

I have been a police officer for 20 years and worked in many departments within the organisation. 

Over the next four weeks, I am going to be issuing a weekly blog, giving you a behind the scenes insight into what we do at the Intelligence Unit and some information about what we’ve been up to and how you can help us.

 

So, let me start by explaining what we do at the EIU.

Our team is made up of five officers who work alongside the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), response officers and neighbourhood policing teams. 

Most people think CID stands for ‘coppers in disguise’. Sometimes it does, but on the whole, they are the bread-and-butter officers dealing with all types of offences from burglary, assault and robbery to name a few. Together we manage reports of threat, risk, and harm. 

Intelligence units are the communication hub of the police, along with other specialised units such as Roads Policing and Police Interceptors. We report back daily to officers to keep them up to date with the latest information.

By joining the links in the chain, this all helps in locating, identifying, and arresting known and unknown suspects.

A good example of this team work was the job that resulted in three men being charged following a spate of recent burglaries reported in the central area of the force.  

Our burglary team in Llay, with assistance from the EIU, helped in the evidence gathering to gain these charges following similar offences reported in the eastern area a few weeks earlier.

The streets are a little bit safer now thanks to team work.

Remember, North Wales is one of the safest places to live in the UK.

 

Our Prevention Hub department aims to look for opportunities to stop more people becoming victims of crime. 

My staff work hard every day to gather all the information and statistics so we can direct the policing areas in a more efficient and productive way. This ensures our officers on the ground are fully informed and have a clear picture of any issues on their respective patches. 

Another one of my daily tasks is to link in with the Community Safety Team, a branch of the Prevention Hub.

Recently, the head of the eastern Community Safety Team invited me to a meeting with Wrexham Council’s Trading Standards department ahead of a planned joint operation to disrupt against rogue traders. It came following recent reports of cold callers in Wrexham.

Ahead of the operation, my team in the EIU were busy researching previous incidents in the Wrexham area to produce a briefing document for all officers involved.

Some of the reports we received were worrying to say the least. Some elderly residents had been verbally abused by these over pushy sellers for simply saying ‘no thank you’. 

We also received information that these salespersons are now taking debit and credit cards as payment. I would just like to remind all members of the public, that I would advise you NOT to give anyone your details. I would also strongly suggest, you do NOT allow any one into your home if you do not know them. 

This is a problem countrywide, and fraud and cybercrime are something we take extremely seriously here. 

The operation saw officers out on patrol giving advice to residents about the dangers of using cold callers carrying out work on their homes. The Police Interceptor Team were also out stopping vans for compliance.

We are pleased to say all genuine legitimate tradesmen were really pleased to see us, as they very often see the hurt and expense a dodgy job can cause a resident when they are called in to put it right.

Trading standards were also giving advice to traders on how to complete the correct documentation and rules over the ‘cooling off period’. Did you know the maximum value of ‘on-the-spot’ works is just £42?

Anyone who tries to charge you more without giving you a ‘cooling off period’ could be committing offences and you should speak to the Citizens Advice Consumer Service Helpline on 03454 04 05 06.

You can read more about the operation here - Operation carried out to crack down on rogue traders in Wrexham | North Wales Police

 

This week also saw Wrexham AFC play in the FA Cup replay match away. Thankfully, the home fixture went with little to no problems and has got the whole city talking about football - and the famous Paul Mullin. He must be good with a name like Paul!

Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be, and right at the last-minute, Wrexham are out of the FA Cup!

But a well done to the team and fans who made the journey to Sheffield.

Our Dedicated Football Officer (DFO) Dave Evans and PC Lee Parker were in attendance and apart from one Wrexham fan igniting a flare, and having to be spoken to by Yorkshire Police, everyone was in good spirits despite the result.

 

Be safe and if someone is harming your community, call it in. 

Until next week, thanks. 

Paul.