Newport police target crime this Halloween and Bonfire Night

Oct 30 - Newport Police will be kicking off November with a city-wide clamp down on crime and anti-social behaviour with two dedicated campaigns.

For Halloween weekend extra officers will be patrolling the streets of Newport to deal with reports of anti-social behaviour and to reassure residents their area is being policed properly.

A wide range of activities aimed at diverting young people away from anti-social behaviour will also be taking place on Saturday and neighbourhood policing teams are urging traders not to sell flour and eggs to anyone who appears to be under the age of 18 in the run-up to Halloween.

Schools Community Police Officers have participated in assemblies in Newport over the past few weeks to discourage bad behaviour, and residents who don’t wish to be disturbed on 31 October can display a pumpkin poster in their window or on their front door to deter unwanted callers. This is available from all Gwent Police stations and English and Welsh versions can be downloaded from the Gwent Police website at www.gwent.police.uk

Looking ahead to this weekend, Gwent Police Assistant Chief Constable Jeff Farrar said: “It’s important to emphasize that Halloween is not a licence to roam the streets, throwing eggs at people’s homes and damaging property. If people cross the line from a bit of harmless fun to behaviour that causes other people harm or distress, it will not be tolerated. We will respond swiftly to any reports of criminal damage or anti-social behaviour.”

The second campaign, the Not in My Neighbourhood Week, runs from 2-6 November and is a national week of action aiming to encourage local communities to work with the police to combat crime and anti-social behaviour.

On Monday 2 November Newport residents can see the film COW before it’s screened on BBC Wales later that night. The hard-hitting story, which shows the dangers of using a mobile phone while driving will be shown in front of the Tesco Superstore on Leeway Industrial Estate at 6pm.

The Safer Newport partnership will be working together, directing offenders to clean up litter and graffiti as part of Community Payback, and throughout the week the police will be targeting drug suppliers and burglars based on hot intelligence from the people of Newport.

Gwent Police Assistant Chief Constable Jeff Farrar said: “Anyone concerned about criminal and anti-social behaviour should call us on our new non-emergency number 101 and in an emergency they should dial 999.”