October Meeting
NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
Watch Co-ordinators met on 12 October and items from their meeting and from wider Watch groups, included the following.
When to ring the Police – 999 is for urgent calls. The Police prefer to hear from you when the incident is actually happening. Call if you see something suspicious, for example excessive domestic arguing, disturbance (such as a party or gathering) at unsocial hours (use 101 for daytime), suspicious activity day or night. If it is happening now the Police can investigate and speak to those involved; the call will also be logged.
101 is for non-urgent items such as those where damage has already been done. Crimes can also be reported online. Just Google “Report South Wales Police” where you will see various options. Choose the appropriate one and complete the questionnaire before submitting. Facebook also has a South Wales Police site where crimes can be submitted.
Scams – We make no apology for again warning residents against scammers. A current scam relates to the government energy bill discount scheme where a fake text purports to be from the UK government and contains a link which is false. Remember, you do not need to apply for the £400 discount, it will be applied automatically from October 2022.
Operation SNAP – Operation SNAP is a police response to increasing submissions of video and photographic evidence relating to driving offences that members of the public have witnessed. Until now, these reports have been submitted to the police in all sorts of ways and so a streamlined process has now been developed to deal with them. The police hope this will make it easier for all involved. Enter “gosafesnap.wales” into Google for more information.
Local items – Two members attended the AGM of the Vale of Glamorgan Watch and reported that the police are placing more emphasis on educating offenders rather than arresting them and that the police want to recruit more members of the ethnic minority groups into the force.
A report was received of bulk rubbish being dumped in the lanes near Wenvoe quarry. This is an ongoing problem which seems impossible to solve. The Vale council will remove rubbish on public land but that on private land is the responsibility of the landowner.
Alan French