Geraint Davies’ Friday night with the police: saving lives & taking knives

Geraint Davies who succeeds Alan Williams MP as Labour’s Swansea West Parliamentary Candidate was impressed when he joined the police for last Friday’s night shift to witness first hand their job of keeping our City centre safe at all times.

Said Geraint Davies “Between 10.00 and 1.30 on Friday night and Saturday morning there’s no shortage of action in and around Wind Street to keep people safe. 

“First call was talking round a distressed man on the wrong side of the bridge over the River Tawe. A man was saved that night by the professional re-asssurance of trained officers. 

“Next a series of minor interventions from warning about dodgy lights and unsafe parking to intervening on a man squaring up to a bouncer when refused entry to a Wind St club.

“The first arrest was for a man spotted drug dealing who was guided stumbling and incoherent into the back of our police van.

“My next session was in the crime incident rooms witnessing incoming 999 calls and directing officers to crime spots. A woman had called in from a hotel as she was being confronted by a drunken, aggressive man with a knife. The telephonist kept the two talking through a nail-biting time of trying to establish where the hotel was. In the end the police got the address and the man ended up handcuffed and the woman in safety.

“Then it was back on Wind Street in time to apprehend a young man for selling drugs before a sudden downpour of hailstones cleared the streets.”

“Before clocking off I met up with Chief Superintendent Mark Mathias who to his great credit is spending a week on the beat to refresh his experience on the front line to help inform his judgements on the best use of his resources.

“I’m keen to use the strong relationship I’ve formed with Swansea police over the past few years to inform my judgements in parliament as Alan Williams MP’s successor. When I was last an MP this helped me to shape new legislation to enable the police and local councils to work in partnership to combat crime.

“The Home Secretary Alan Johnson MP has accepted my invitation to come to Swansea in the Spring and he reminded me that this is the first Government since the war to see crime falling – down by a third since 1997 with violent crime down 41%. That’s due to the extra 16,000 police officers whose hard work and focus keep our streets safe.