Tackling Violent and Alcohol Related Violent Crime

Dyfed Powys Police are working closely with other members of the Carmarthenshire Community Safety Partnership to tackle violence and drink-related violent crime in our town centres and within homes.

General small increases in violent crime cannot solely be attributed to offences connected with the night time economy and there is evidence to support increased confidence in the reporting of sexual assaults and domestic violence.

There are also specific or seasonal periods throughout the year which experience increased offences through higher levels off consumption of alcohol. These periods include Christmas and the New Year, international rugby matches and bank holiday weekends.

The police and partners will be targeting the increase in violent and alcohol related violent crime over a 12 month period focusing on peak periods.

The police worked closely with partner agencies over the Christmas period across the county’s main towns in an effort to keep the night-time economy running safely and smoothly.

This included tackling alcohol-related crime in and around licensed premises with patrols, regular visits by police and council licensing officers and effective use of the Behave or Be Banned and Pubwatch schemes, assisting council licensing staff in conducting taxi licensing checks, regular visits to A&E at our hospitals, high visibility town centre foot patrols and the use of Section 27 notices to tackle potential crime and prevent violence escalating. These notices are a tool used by police to direct a person to leave an area for up to 48 hours if they are likely to cause or contribute to alcohol-related crime and disorder.

Police are also continuing to enforce the Designated Public Place Order, established in the centre of Llanelli on March 1 last year to tackle alcohol related anti-social behaviour and disorder. It gives the police the power to stop someone drinking alcohol in a public place or to confiscate alcohol if the person is judged to be behaving or about to behave anti-socially and has resulted in more than one person a day having alcohol confiscated.

Those who refuse to comply could be issued with a fixed penalty notice or arrested and fined up to £500.

Tackling domestic violence is a core part of the violent crime strategy, targeting repeat domestic violence perpetrators and including tackling domestic violence at times such as rugby internationals.

Police figures show that, the number of serious violent crime offences fell slightly compared to the already low figures of 2012. Almost a quarter of the less serious violent crime increase can be attributed to public order offences.