31 October 2007
Blackwood town centre is a safer place to live, work and visit thanks to the success of a major community safety partnership initiative involving Caerphilly County Borough Council, Gwent Police and other local agencies.
Over the last month the town has been the focus of a multi-agency operation called CANDO (Community and Neighbourhood Directed Operations). The initiative is aimed at tackling crime and anti social behaviour in Blackwood Town Centre and has been hailed a major success.
The main emphasis of the CANDO was to address problems caused by anti social driving in town centre as well as other issues such as underage drinking, youth congregation, business crime and criminal damage etc.
The CANDO resulted in the following actions:
- A large amount of alcohol was seized (93 cans of lager / beer / cider, 58 bottles of lager, 4 litres of cider, 2 bottles of vodka, 4 litres of wine)
- 33 fixed penalty notices were issued for various traffic offences
- 1 fixed penalty issued under section five of the public order act (using threatening, abusive, insulting words or behaviour, causing alarm or distress)
- Three people were arrested in connection with drug offences. One person was charged and two people were cautioned for possession of cannabis
- One person was arrested for being drunk and disorderly
- 25 anti-social behaviour referrals were made
The operation took place over a three week period earlier this month.
The introduction of a special Dispersal Notice also formed part of the overall initiative. The notice allows Police Officers and Police Community Support Officers to disperse groups of people who are acting in an anti-social manner. During the first two weeks of the scheme 250 people were dispersed in the Blackwood and Pontllanfraith wards.
CCBC Cabinet member, Cllr Dave Poole, said, “Blackwood is a safer place to be thanks to the efforts of all the agencies involved in this successful partnership operation. We want to send out a clear message to the inconsiderate minority that we will not tolerate anti social behaviour in our communities.”
Sgt Ian Muirhead from Gwent Police, said: "The CANDO was a joint operation looking at a variety of problems that were raised by the public, who use the town centre at Blackwood. The results demonstrate that this type of operation is very successful in dealing with the issues that are highlighted. As the operation progressed it was clear that the youths had moved away from the town centre area and it is important that we now continue to build on this success."
CANDO is delivered by the Safer Caerphilly Community Safety Partnership, which is made up of five organisations: Caerphilly County Borough Council; Gwent Police; the Police Authority; South Wales Fire and Rescue and Caerphilly Local Health Board. The partnership tackles crime, anti-social behaviour, the fear of crime and substance misuse in the area.
The scheme has already seen positive results in other towns and villages across the area including Rhymney, Pengam, Pontllanfraith and Penyrheol in Caerphilly.
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