Police chief visits Newtown after violence
A police chief has visited a town which has been dogged by violent attacks.
Dyfed-Powys Police and Crime Commissioner Dafydd Llewellyn visited Newtown to see policing problems first hand.
Concerns surfaced last month after a weekend of attacks on youngsters in Newtown when four people were left injured and one man had his leg broken.
A number of people have since been arrested following the incidents, which sparked a campaign for more CCTV and policing in the town.
Those calls were answered by commissioner Mr Llewellyn, who pledged money to get old CCTV cameras switched back on in the town.
The money is part of a Powys wide campaign in various towns for more CCTV systems to tackle crime rates in the county.
Mr Llewellyn met with county councillors Joy Jones and Elwyn Vaughan earlier this week to discuss the concerns.
He also went about Newtown chatting to police officers to talk about various issues that have arisen in the town.
Councillor Jones insisted it was a positive meeting, and the first phase of the CCTV scheme is now underway.
She said: "I had a meeting with Dafydd Llewellyn to speak to him regarding recent events and problems that have occurred in the town and my concerns that we need more police officers walking our streets.
"We had a coffee and Cllr Elwyn Vaughan helped me raise various issues that we are aware of.
"Later I took Dafydd for a walk through the town so he could speak to a few people.
"He was very positive about CCTV and confirmed once again that Newtown will be getting CCTV and that we are in the first phase of them being installed."
Eight arrests were made last month after the assaults, and police said they were taking a zero tolerance approach to this type of behaviour.
Inspector Jonathan Rees-Jones said: "We are taking these matters very seriously and doing all we can to ensure those suspected of being responsible for the assaults are dealt with appropriately.
"We’re also carrying out patrols to address periphery issues of groups congregating that are behaving criminally or anti-socially.
"Newtown is a close-knit community, which Dyfed-Powys Police officers and PCSOs have strong links with.
"I hope members of the public have felt the effect of our efforts since the assaults.”
