Halloween and bonfire night remain quiet in the Borough
The Bridgend Borough remained quiet over the Bonfire and Halloween period with calls over the two nights hitting an all time low.
Total reported incidents for Halloween stood at 21, and only a dozen calls were made over bonfire night.
Chief Inspector Simon Belcher stated “the low call record for the Borough over this usually busy period proves how hard our Officers and Pcsos have worked to keep our community a safe place. We commend the young people in the Borough for behaving sensibly and respecting their communities, and I hope that everybody had an enjoyable Halloween and Bonfire night. For those that made calls over the period, every effort will be taken to ensure that the issues have been or will be resolved”.
Moves were taken by the South Wales Police prior to and on both nights to ensure that a low number of recorded incidents would be achieved:
- A ‘command room’ was set up in Bridgend Police Station on both days. This made sure that any received calls were allocated out on the airwaves directly to the officer closest to the problem, therefore enabling the officer to respond as swiftly as possible.
- Schools were visited by Police School Liaison Officers. Assemblies were given and the message of behaviour turning anti-social was given to the pupils. They were also given safety advice and were told about any events that were going on in the community
- Several discos took place which gave young people a place to go. Local clubs and venues have been thanked for providing the nights.
- Pcsos were utilised and visited shops and retailers to ensure that they did not sell eggs and flour to young people over the period, and also reminded them about the laws surrounding the sales of fireworks. They also carried out many high visibility foot patrols and spoke to many young people who were hanging around to make sure that they were not intending on causing any trouble.