Police operation deemed a success in town centre (From Barry And District News)

Police operation deemed a success in town centre

THE Vale of Glamorgan Community Safety Partnership has announced the success of Operation Daventry, targeting pickpockets, bag snatches and retail theft in Barry Town Centre.

During the operation arrests made for these offences increased by 100 per cent compared with the same period last year.

Incidents of pickpocketing completely ceased during Operation Daventry.

The operation began at the end of October and was run by the Barry Community First Policing Team in partnership with Council CCTV operators and local retailers.

It involved an increased visible presence of police officers and Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) in Barry Town Centre.

Due to the success of Operation Daventry there was a 29 percent decrease in the number of offences reported in the town centre.

The increased police presence also saw the detection rate of reported incidents increase from 56 percent to 92 percent.

Superintendent Josh Jones, Divisional Commander for the Vale of Glamorgan, said: "This Operation was a great success for the Vale of Glamorgan Community Safety Partnership and has shown that if people want to come to Barry and steal then they will be caught.

"We will not tolerate shoplifting in the Vale of Glamorgan."

Cllr John Thomas, the Vale of Glamorgan Council's Cabinet Member for Community Safety, added, "The Council is delighted to hear of the success of this Operation.

"It is testament to the hard work being done by the Community Safety Partnership to tackle crime in the Vale of Glamorgan in all its forms, and I look forward to even more successes of this kind in the future."