Merthyr Tydfil Football Initiative

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Contributed by Adam LIKE, Crime Reduction Tactical Advisor, Mid Glam BCU Community Safety.

At the start of 2023 Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) and youth related crime was increasing on Rhydycar Leisure Village. Concerns were raised by several businesses at the location. This demand was a considerable increase on the previous year, as shown on the graph (fig 1).

ASB in the Merthyr area at this time was subject to extra scrutiny. A group of young persons – self named “Young and Dangerous” (YAD) – had been causing issues throughout the Merthyr area, including at Rhydycar Leisure Village. This was causing fear among the young people who legitimately wanted to attend the location.

Activity at the area included:

• Verbal abuse against staff
• Drugs
• Theft
• Concern for safety calls
• Violence against the person

The young persons causing concern in the area tended to gather in very large groups, meaning gathering evidence against any individual was extremely difficult.

The ward PCSO 58004 Steffan John initiated a POP plan in February, conferring with the sector Crime Reduction Tactical Advisor (CRTA). Due to the nature of the area, with a Superbowl, cinema and McDonalds on site, young persons would always be attracted to the area. Through SCANNING and ANALYSIS, it was established that diversionary activity to increase engagement with the young persons would be the best initial RESPONSE. Environmental changes and target hardening would negatively affect legitimate customers using the site.

A joint meeting was held with the businesses and leisure centre, Neighbourhood Policing Team and Community Safety Partnership, CRTA and ASB officer. The outcome of this meeting was that we secured the use of the leisure centre football pitches free of charge (having originally been quoted a fee) and McDonalds offered funding toward football kit. A trial period of 10 weeks was chosen as this aligned with the system the leisure centre used for booking blocks.

PCSOs Steffan John and SWP 57888 Michael Rees ran Friday night football sessions. Initially we decided that it was best not to advertise the event – tensions between the young persons and businesses were high. It was undesirable to potentially attract many young persons into the area, until we assessed what the interest was and who may be attending. Because of this, initial uptake was slow, however, the event has been gaining momentum and has had a positive impact at the Leisure Village.

Since implementation demand has dropped to below “normal” levels.

Note: The football sessions were initiated in April. Demand did drop off before this, however this was due to NPT officers contributing considerable unsustainable resources to the area, whilst the football was being initiated and planned. A longer-term solution was required.