DYFED-POWYS POLICE is saying ‘we care’ during National Safeguarding Week (Nov 13-17) by highlighting the work it does day in day out to protect vulnerable children and adults.

Police officers and staff have teamed up with partner agencies to raise awareness of issues that affect vulnerable people in communities on behalf of the Regional Safeguarding Board for Children and Adults.

There will be themed days throughout the week where information will be provided to people in need of support or those who can help to protect people at risk of harm. Officers will also be promoting support services available to people such as Llamau missing persons debrief workers who liaise with children are have been missing and at risk of CSE, Independent Domestic Violence Officers (IDVA) officers who support those at high risk of domestic abuse Goleudy, an independent commissioned service for victims and witnesses of crime.

A Crucial Crew event will also be running in Pembrokeshire Monday to Friday, where police will give an input on cyber safety to all primary school children attending. There will also be focussed delivery of key topics in schools throughout the force area on topics including Child Sexual Exploitation, consent, grooming and safer relationships as well as a specific focus on bullying in schools where pupils get to discuss the difference between ‘banter’ and ‘bullying’ and look at the effect of bullying on children.

Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Claire Parmenter said: “Dyfed-Powys Police has dedicated teams who work with partner agencies to protect the most vulnerable including children, the elderly, people suffering domestic abuse and people with mental health issues. We care about our communities and we care about doing the best possible job we can to ensure we effectively look after those who are vulnerable. National Safeguarding Week is a perfect opportunity to strengthen our relationships with partners and to ensure the information people need to stay safe gets out there to the communities we serve.”

Detective Superintendent Anthony Griffiths said: “Safeguarding the vulnerable within our community is a priority for Dyfed-Powys Police. This week officers will be engaging with mental health teams, residential care providers, schools and the community to ensure that safeguarding is at the forefront of people’s minds and that everyone knows where support can be accessed.”

Themed activities for the week are as follows:

Monday – Child Sexual Exploitation
Officers and PCSOs will be out and about highlighting the signs of child sexual exploitation, particularly at hotels and guest houses where vulnerable children could be taken to be exploited. Officers and Llamau workers will also be visiting children highlighted as at risk of child sexual exploitation to ensure they are safe and understand the dangers of putting themselves at risk or going missing. They will also visit schools to ensure the messages get to the right people.

Tuesday – Modern Day Slavery
Raising awareness of the signs of modern day slavery within the police service to ensure officers recognise the signs and understand how to investigate effectively. Officers will also be on patrol distributing leaflets on the signs of modern day slavery.

Wednesday – Mental Health and Resilience
Officers and PCSOs will be visiting Mental Health Units promoting the services we provide that could be of benefit to people with mental health conditions, including how to report hate crime, encouraging people to talk about mental health, and raise awareness of the partnership safeguarding approach in place to protect vulnerable people. They will also be holding information roadshows in town centres and other locations.

Thursday – Cyber Security
Work will be carried out to raise awareness amongst the vulnerable of the potential harm of cybercrime and how they can become cyber secure. In Ceredigion, online safety information will be given at Coleg Ceredigion in the morning and Tesco in the afternoon. A Safeguarding conference will be held at Pembrokeshire College, bringing together professionals to find out more about cyberbullying, cyber fraud and exploitation.

Friday – Domestic Abuse
Domestic Abuse officers will be linking in with domestic abuse support services to offer advice on police responsibilities in domestic abuse cases and to encourage future reporting of cases and visit domestic abuse sufferers to ensure they are aware of the support available to them.