{"id":91518,"date":"2025-01-31T17:57:50","date_gmt":"2025-01-31T17:57:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/?p=91518"},"modified":"2025-02-10T12:02:35","modified_gmt":"2025-02-10T12:02:35","slug":"we-wont-be-patting-ourselves-on-the-back-and-leaving-south-wales-police-promises-to-build-a-better-butetown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2025\/01\/31\/we-wont-be-patting-ourselves-on-the-back-and-leaving-south-wales-police-promises-to-build-a-better-butetown\/","title":{"rendered":"‘We won\u2019t be patting ourselves on the back and leaving’: South Wales Police promises to \u2018build a better Butetown\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A new police scheme to help clean up Butetown has begun – but past tensions mean some people are unconvinced<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

RESIDENTS hope a police promise to \u201cbuild a better Butetown\u201d will last this time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new South Wales Police (SWP) scheme – Clear, Hold, Build – aims to tackle serious crime and help maintain low crime levels in the area while police presence decreases. It is known locally as “build a better Butetown”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In 15 years of policing this is the single most friendly community I have ever worked in,\u201d said Sergeant Jake Rollnick, during a meeting at the Red Sea House retirement housing on Maria Street – the first in a series of monthly meetings to discuss actionable plans with the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut what I\u2019m seeing now that I\u2019ve never had before is people saying they actually need our help.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, he understands that the police may face issues of trust in the community due to both historic and more recent issues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe know there have been schemes like this before, but this time we won\u2019t be walking in, arresting a few people, patting ourselves on the back and leaving,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the issues that have created a divide between the community and the police is the use of stop and search powers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI appreciate that I\u2019m a white police officer coming into Butetown where 70% of people don\u2019t look like me, but our stop and searches are always based on reliable intelligence,\u201d said Sergeant Rollnick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want to destroy the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople are worried that if we arrest their kids, they will be sent to prison for years. This isn\u2019t the case. We want to arrest the dealers that are coming into Butetown and using the local boys as drug runners, not arrest them for being pulled into that lifestyle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sergeant Rollnick said that 68% of people who are stopped and searched are in possession of drugs. He believes this shows that the powers are being well-used by police in Butetown because the national recommendation for police is that only 25% of people stopped and searched need to be found in possession of drugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that 16 of the last 17 drug dealers SWP have arrested in Butetown have been over the age of 17, with the oldest aged 67.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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