A MEMBER of the Neighbourhood Policing Team set up in Monmouth Town on Friday, November 22, to raise awareness of antisocial behaviour, and invite any residents’ concerns and questions.

Kyle, a local Community Support Officer based in Monmouth Police Station (part of Monmouthshire North neighbourhood team) set up at Monmouth Market, meeting with community members.

He explained that during the week, there had been a need to raise awareness around antisocial behaviour, along with other issues around the towns of Monmouthshire. He added the Neighbourhood team tried to push awareness further by advertising leaflets and offering free merchandise.

Kyle said: “We call it police surgeries. Anyone that has any local issues can approach us, have a chat with us, disclose anything they like or make us aware of anything - and a lot of people just like seeing us as a presence as well.”

The community had generally positive responses to the presence in town, with some residents coming to ask questions, others to get the free merchandise, and others to say how pleased they are to see police actively in the area.

Police surgeries like this are frequent and are offered in different locations throughout Monmouthshire. The Community Support Officer explained this can be in places such as coffee shops, on bridges, or community areas like leisure centres.

Kyle also provided some insight of what happens when members of the public report a concern. He said: “We take the report and take their details, and then it depends - not so much on the severity, but sort of how fast they need that response from us.

“If it’s something that’s happening here, now, I would allocate an officer to it. If it’s something however I could deal with later on today, or tomorrow, we can assess how we approach it. Perhaps it’s having more of a presence in that area, identifying people within the area, or intelligence reports. There’s multiple different ways we could deal with that.”

You can find out more details about your local Neighbourhood Policing team by visiting the Gwent Police website, or drop by the next police surgery in your area.