Extract from Westminster Hall debate on Organised Crime: Young People’s Safety - Sep 5
Thursday, 6 September 2018 09:35
Stephen Doughty (Cardiff South and Penarth) (Lab/Co-op):...I am
proud that the performance of South Wales Police in
dealing with violence with injury and other issues is strong, but
like many other police forces, it is struggling to cope. I have
spoken to individual police officers and senior officers who tell
me about the strains that they face in crime demand and non-crime
demand. We all know about the pressures from mental health and
missing persons. The Government can argue...Request free trial
(Cardiff South and Penarth)
(Lab/Co-op):...I am proud that the performance
of South
Wales Police in dealing with violence with injury and
other issues is strong, but like many other police forces, it is
struggling to cope. I have spoken to individual police officers and
senior officers who tell me about the strains that they face in
crime demand and non-crime demand. We all know about the pressures
from mental health and missing persons. The Government can argue
about this all they like, but the reality is that the number of
police officers on our streets has come down substantially in the
past few years, as has the number of community police
officers, PCSOs and others. In individual areas, we have been able
to keep the numbers up. We have PCSOs funded by the Welsh
Government who are doing a fantastic job in our communities, but
unless we have police officers on the ground who have relationships
with young people, with other agencies and with the families, and
who have that crucial local intelligence that my hon. Friend the
Member for Gedling talked about, we will not be able to deal with
the problem, which has been magnified by particular challenges in
Cardiff...
(Swansea East)
(Lab):...County lines are a devastating crime tsunami, as
I have seen first hand in my own city, where the
excellent South
Wales Police are fighting what is, in many cases,
an invisible enemy—faceless in appearance, but devastating in
action. Last Thursday, I spent the evening on the streets of
Swansea with the Safer Wales outreach bus, which works with victims
of prostitution. I heard about two young ladies—their age is
disputable—who had gone missing. It was assumed that they had been
taken by drug gangs—county lines—because of debt. I heard that they
were likely to be trafficked. It was explained to me what
punishment they could expect, but it is too dreadful to repeat in
this place. That is the reality of what we are facing...
To read the whole debate, CLICK
HERE
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