New Maesteg Police Team Wow in First Shift
New Neighbourhood Support Teams operating within South Wales Police have proved to be a great success for the Bridgend Borough, with officers from the brand new Maesteg Sector Neighbourhood Support Team making three arrests for theft, motoring, drug and burglary related offences within a matter of hours on their first team shift.
Due to workforce transformation within South Wales Police, any neighbourhood policing officers who require support in their area are able to contact their sector neighbourhood support team to help them solve ongoing community issues.
Based in Caerau police station, the six-strong Maesteg team paraded for their first tour of duty on Monday 13th April, with PC Dai Barry leading members of the team to the Pontycymmer area to arrest a 29 year old male prolific offender who he had witnessed riding a stolen motorbike. After arresting the male, officers discovered a cannabis plantation on his property, resulting in the seizure of 8 cannabis plants in total. The male was consequently arrested for motoring, theft and drug related offences, and is due to appear in Bridgend Magistrates Court on Thursday, April 23rd.
In the same shift, the neighbourhood support police officers located and detained two male juvenile offenders, aged 13 and 14 years old, for a dwelling burglary in the Bettws area. One male was bailed to attend a ‘Final Warning’ hearing with the Youth Offending team. The second male was charged with dwelling burglary and will appear in youth court on Monday, April 27th.
Police Sergeant Fiona Haggerty, who leads the new Neighbourhood Support Team for the Maesteg sector said: “The new staff arrangement has got off to a fantastic start in Maesteg, and we look forward to building on this success in the future to make Maesteg sector a safer place for residents.”