A new rural partnership with the police

It is very important for the police to work alongside the local rural community and those who work in the rural environment.

 Often, it is the community who provide the police with our most valuable intelligence and information. It is the community who work and live in the small villages and hamlets of Monmouthshire and who notice if something or somebody is acting suspiciously.

 Like the old saying goes – “If it doesn’t look quite right – it probably isn’t” – and the police would like to know about it.

 They are encouraging members of the public who live or work in a rural setting around Monmouthshire, to collect an “Eyes and Ears” Booklet from Monmouth police station. There are also booklets in the Rural Market at Raglan and soon to be in the One Stop Shop in the town centre.

 The scheme is an aide memoir – a little booklet to keep with you in your vehicle. It contains handy hints on collecting the right information : such as time, location, vehicle type and colour, index number, description of suspicious person etc.

 If something is sighted which is deemed suspicious activity, the booklet is a useful tool to note down all the relevant and important information.

It also contains the relevant numbers for the Police contact centre.

 If a crime is taking place – then to call 999 – but still use the booklet as a tool to provide all the important information to the Police 999 Operator.

 If any person would like to speak with the officer responsible for the scheme – then they can contact him at [email protected] For Chepstow, the Community Support Officer is Andrew Jones and he can be emailed at [email protected]. Booklets will also be at Chepstow Police Station if people wish to collect them.

 The scheme is already being used widely across Monmouthshire by Natural Resources Wales, the National Trust, the post office and river bailiffs.