COUNCILLORS were left confused and disappointed at the set of crime statistics they were given by South Wales Police, saying it told them nothing.

Agenda item five of Penarth Town Council meetings “Police Matters” is probably the most critical item on the list when the council meet, and it’s become even more pertinent with the recent development that police had to conduct a three week investigation to put a pair of serial burglars who had committed crimes including in Penarth, behind bars.

And things seemed to be going swell between the council and the police, with the recent announcement South Wales Police presence in Penarth is moving from the old police station on Windsor Road and into the community hub attached to the council offices.

On only January 12, councillors met with the new policy, innovation and development officer for the area Inspector Duncan Mitchell, in an introduction that went off as smooth as a summer’s stroll down the esplanade.

However, on February 9, at a full meeting of the council, there was no sign of Inspector Mitchell, or any of his officers, and councillors looked upon crime data given by South Wales Police with perplexity.

 “Useless,” was the term Councillor Rhiannon Birch described the data sets in front of her.

“I do not know why they bother to send it to us, said Cllr Birch, of the Cornerswell Ward. “The service is going backwards. We are getting information that is not of interest to us because it is not in our remit. It’s disappointing.”

Cllr Mark Wilson, of Stanwell, agreed saying it was imperative police met with councillors at a suitable time.

“It is really disappointing considering we met the new inspector last month and now we get this data which is useless,” said Cllr Wilson. “We need someone here to question it and explain this data.”

Cllr Gwenda Roberts, of St Augustines, said she wanted to know more about a supposed spate of car thefts in the area.

“It says here vehicle offences have gone from one to six,” said Cllr Roberts.

“It would be nice to know what the vehicle offences were, where they happened and if anyone was caught. This information does not mean anything to us.”

What do you think of policing in Penarth? Good or bad? Do you want to see more officers on the beat, or is the area safe and sound?