Pencoed litter pick
Neighbourhood Police officers in Pencoed have launched an initiative aimed at reducing anti-social behaviour in the area.
Police Constable Paul Harward and his colleagues have been running a scheme to get young people involved in community activities and they are then rewarded by free activities or treats – an idea which appears to be successful so far.
PC Harward said: “The area has suffered from a large amount of anti-social behaviour by groups of youths with the most likely explanation being that they are badly provided for in terms of activities to participate in, leading to boredom.
“I tell the youngsters about these community activities, and the beauty of it is that I do not tell them what their treat will be and they come back time and again”.
The efforts of the Police seems to be working considerably better than previous operations which centred around directly targeting the badly behaved youths and “cracking down” on them. The idea to work with the young people rather than come down hard upon them has led to significant improvements in the community.
“It has increased public confidence”, added PC Harward.
“As the litter pick took place they young people showed enthusiasm, and they asked other groups of youths to join in as they passed them by. “Why don’t you join in?” said one, “You’ll get a free treat out of it!””
Once the litter pick had finished, PC Harward asked the group of boys whether they would participate in an activity like this again, to which they all replied positively. “It’s not been a bad day’s work” remarked one.
After their hard day’s work they were taken for a well earned visit to McDonalds. Since the litter pick PC Harward has also been able to arrange a rock climbing evening and a paintball trip, both of which were well supported by local youngsters. He is also investigating the possibility of establishing more activities at the local Welfare Hall, with the young people providing ideas about five-a-side football or discos, along with paintball afternoons. It is hoped that the success that PC Harward has enjoyed so far can continue and benefit the Pencoed community as a whole.