Gwent Police has launched a new drugs safe scheme for licensed premises.
Licensing Officers have been delivering training to Designated Premises Supervisors (DPS) in pubs and clubs by showing them how to record, safely seize and store suspected illegal substances found on their premises.
The DPS will then train door staff working at their premises.
Licensed premises will be provided will tamper-proof plastic bags to seal the drugs in and a register to complete, where they will detail information about the circumstance in which illegal substances were located. Police officers will then collect the suspect substances and send them off for analysis and safe disposal.
The Caerphilly town pubs involved in the scheme are The Irish Tymes, The Kings Arms, The Malcolm Uphill, The Courthouse, Caerphilly Social Club, and Caerphilly Municipal Club.
In Blackwood, Porters,The Sirhowy, New Forrester’s, The Plasnewydd and Blisters are taking part.
I’m not sure about this training at all. “Safely seize and store illegal substances.” In my dictionary ‘seize’ is defined as ‘to take possession by force’, does this mean that staff are expected to grapple with suspects and forcibly remove the substances? If so there are major pitfalls, a person may be observed taking tablets from an unmarked container for instance. Lots of people on lawful medication use their own bespoke containers to ensure they take their tablets in the right order and on time. There would be a world of trouble for staff who took someone’s medicine away.
If it means merely that suspect materials found in the pub are to be stored properly until collection for safe disposal then it is the wording of the article that is faulty. I hope the latter is the case, perhaps The Caerphilly Observer could clarify this for readers.
I really don’t think this is an activity that should be undertaken by anyone other than the Police and Public Health Officers. The liability issues appear to be potentially horrendous.
As I have said before Councillor, we need more bobbies on the beat. These tasks need to be carried out by proper coppers or plastic ones at the least.
I don’t disagree, I’m assuming though that the training for pub staff is not “seizing” drugs as described in the article but instead teaching staff how to recognise and properly treat suspect substances.
I am with you on beat coppers all the way as a visible police presence deters crimes. I have seen this proven in my travels over three continents and used to see it in Caerffili. There are a couple of obstacles working against a restoration of this system. Firstly we currently have no police station, Chief Constable Carmel Napier (Sacked by Ian Johnston) closed it. Secondly a decision has been made to police mainly with CPSOs. I have nothing against Community support officers and have seen them perform brilliantly with my own eyes, but they do not have the same powers as a police officer and their efforts suffer accordingly.
Until we have a rethink on the way Caerffili is policed I cannot see any way to improve the situation. A major obstacle, as I have mentioned before, is that our town is considered by the political parties as being part of Gwent when it is not and never has been. I look forward to a time when we once more have a police station in the town which can call on support from the might of the South Wales Constabulary as we once did.
The Police and the Caerphilly Council do not currently check on who actually runs a pub in Caerphilly, many are devoid of a `premises supervisor` as a responsible person, mostly run by unqualified bar staff, absolutely illegal of course.
It is going to take a brave bar tender to tackle druggies and drunks, they dont do it now and will never do it. And it would take a very careless druggy to leave his stash anywhere where it can be `found` in a PUB. This article is no more than a soundbite, and a weak nebulous attempt at dealing with the increasing drugs culture rife and developing in the pubs and on the streets of Caerphilly Town. best for law abiding citizens to seek recreation elsewhere.
It will be interesting to know how many `stashes` are eventually uncovered, I predict none.