WHITCHURCH traders have told police they want to see more high visibility policing in the town centre amid concerns about the spate of burglaries and criminal damage.
Traders’ worries led to a meeting with local officers on Wednesday in a bid to get some answers about their policing strategy.
In recent weeks the town has seen shops broken into, one store had its wall rammed as raiders made off with expensive equipment, and smashed windows are a constant problem.
Whitchurch Chamber of Trade invited the police to their meeting at the Dodington Lodge Hotel, when four officers attended, PC Tony Jones, Whitchurch local policing sergeant Kirsty Hill, PC Karena Evans who covers Whitchurch town and CSO Tim Meredith.
Chamber member Linton Macrae said: “The major problem is that people don’t see high visibility policing. Whitchurch needs prioritising, but I realise the police’s hands are tied as there are not enough of them and there is far too much time spent on admin.”
PC Evans said: “I am dedicated to this area and there will be more police presence from now on.” She added that community policing means that lots of pairs of eyes among the public should be used to help police.
Mr Macrae added: “I know and the police know who the offenders are, but you are never there to catch them. And if they are caught they are soon out doing it again.”
PC Jones said it all comes down to how many staff they can get on the streets. He added: “If offenders get past the CPS (criminal prosecution service) and prison it doesn’t change people - they just come back out and offend again, prison just gives people a break from them.”
PC Evans added: “We will do our bit but we can’t answer for the criminal justice system, I’m afraid.”
Police have made several arrests in and around the town recently, and PC Jones said they are dealing with four different groups of people - an older group which has been drinking in licensed premises and then leaves a trail of damage; then car and shed thieves - two people have been charged and one cautioned in relation to these crimes - late teens and professional criminals.
PC Jones and .PC Evans recently encounted two members of the professional burglary category at Fenns Bank when they were alerted to a car parked suspiciously.
They found it contained the barrel of a shotgun, a sledgehammer and lock picking equipment. They arrested two men at the scene and they are being dealt with by Wrexham police.
PC Jones added that there is a problem with juveniles at the moment, and often they can only caution them but they do get them into the system. He added that a lot of stolen property has been recently recovered.
Chamber chair Linda Bate expressed concern about the more serious type of crime as witnessed with the ram-raid at Griffiths Tool Hire and burglary at Victoria Garage. PC Jones said: “These were not home-grown characters, these crimes were at a higher level than our local opportunist types and investigations are ongoing.”
Mr Macrae thanked Tim Meredith, PC Jones and PC Evans for their efforts with Shop Watch, adding that their attention has been second to none. The Shop Watch scheme involves traders and police being alerted via text messages about suspect people in the town. An officer in the town has as Shop Watch phone on them at all times.
Traders agreed it was a worthwhile scheme which both parties want to develop in a bid to combat the problem.