Gwent Police has promised tough action on criminals in the Caerphilly County Borough area as part of a new operation.
A team of officers, consisting of one detective constable and six constables, will hope to repeat the results of a similar operation carried out in Februrary and March this year.
Operation Crystal saw 36 people arrested for a variety of offences including burglary, affray, arson and shoplifting. A number of these have received custodial sentences, with one man receiving ten months in prison for burglary.
Officers also executed six search warrants under the Theft and Misuse of Drugs Act and arrested individuals for drugs offences. They also made regular visits to known prolific offenders and worked to encourage crime prevention tactics, such as the use of forensic marking products by local businesses that had been victims of crime. Capture vehicles were also used throughout the area.
Detective Nic Wilkie, who is leading the team on the new operation, said: “The new crime team that has been set up in Caerphilly will also be working with partner agencies to concentrate on dealing with repeat offenders in the area. This includes working with Wales Probation, Gwent Drug Intervention Programme, the Youth Offending Service and Caerphilly County Borough Council.
“Through information sharing and partnership working, we are able to deal quickly and more efficiently with offenders.
“As a reminder to residents, I would also like to encourage you not to be complacent or take chances with their security. Even when you are inside your own home, you should lock your door and take the key out of lock. It is also particularly important to keep any valuables hidden out of sight when you leave your home or car.
“My advice is to always lock your home, car and garden sheds to avoid the inconvenience and distress associated with being a victim of crime. We also want to remind residents to report anything suspicious, no matter how small, to Gwent Police.”
It does not come down to the police. The police can arrest as many people as they want but it's up to the CPS to push the case and the judge to hand out harsh sentences. At the moment the judges are looking to reform and to allow them to have a tag or do so community service. This is not the solution. You need long term sentences with unpaid manual labour and no TV, free time or socialising time with other inmates. It's time to stop handing out free stays at a taxpayer funded holiday camp i.e. gaol. This doesn't start with the police but higher up.
the drug problems are something that needs to be sorted out and kept on top of as this is usually why people are stealing off people.