BUSY NIGHT FOR EMERGENCY SERVICES AS REVELLERS ENJOY FESTIVE CHEER
FOR some on Black Friday, the drinking had clearly begun early – by 8.30pm there were some who were already unable to stand. But for many others the night was only just starting.
The last Friday before Christmas is always a busy time for bars up and down the country and the centres of Swansea and Cardiff are no exception.
For the police, the night demands a lot of planning and extra resources.
Across South Wales Police’s western division – Swansea, Neath and Port Talbot – almost 70 extra officers were drafted in to work the Friday shifts with many policemen and woman having their rotas changed and rest days cancelled to make them available.
While a lot of the extra officers were assigned to Swansea’s Wind Street area, with its concentration of pubs and bars which 10,000 people were expected to visit, others were deployed across the sector from Gorseinon to Port Talbot.
Extra officers were also sent to Morriston Hospital in case of trouble while a specialist domestic violence team was also on duty, extra cars and crews were deployed to the sector, and additional officers sent to help with Swansea council’s CCTV monitoring.
The policing team in Wind Street was also supplemented by officers from South Wales Police’s dedicated Operation Sceptre anti-knife crime initiative and by one of the force’s facial recognition camera vans.
The evening began with a briefing in Swansea Central police station by the designated bronze inspector for the operation, Andrew Hedley.
After a run-through of the plan his message to the officers was a simple one: “It is going to be a challenging night. Remain professional at all times. Look after the people out there and look after each other.”
The policing of Wind Street had actually started at lunchtime on Friday – with many places of work knocking off early for Christmas the bars tend to be busy from the midafternoon.
By the time we joined the operation it was well under way and officers had been out and about for hours.
We began with a trip to the Uplands area of Swansea – an increasingly popular spot for a night out – where officers chatted to door staff. Then it was on to Wind Street.
The plan for the night was as simple as it was effective – at the first sign of trouble officers intervened swiftly to nip problems in the bud. As little incidents flared up outside various bars officers were quickly on the scene and, with a combination of gentle persuasion and a bit of physicality where needed, they defused situations before they could escalate into anything more violent.
The officers dealt with situations as they arose, from someone already too drunk to stand by 8.30pm to a man hassling women queuing to get into a pub, and someone who didn’t know where he was but who was determined to walk home – to Maesteg.
Officers also had to deal with a large number of requests for selfies with tipsy people.
Meanwhile down on The Strand the Help Point was open for business. A project staffed by volunteers from St John Ambulance and students from University of Wales Trinity St David, the centre is designed to tend to the walking wounded, the lost and the drunk, and to take the strain off the ambulance service and hospital A&E.
They did not have to wait long for their first customer of the evening in need of assistance.
Back in Wind Street the drinking was continuing with gusto and the effects were there for all to see: men in Christmas jumpers hugging each other, Santas eating kebabs, people arguing and shouting, countless women in high-heeled shoes stumbling on pavements slick with rain, an elf being sick in Castle Square, an intoxicated Christmas pudding singing Take Me To The Vetch Field, and a man urinating on Green Dragon Lane offering to shake hands with officers.
After a slow start to the evening, by 11pm the street was its usual busy self – and it was quite a sight. But the officers seemed to take it in their stride.
In all the festive mayhem the Operation Sceptre knife crime team carried out a number of stops and searches on people. Thankfully nothing was found. Blades and booze do not mix.
Later in the evening Operation Sceptre officers went on proactive patrols to a couple of hotspots outside the city centre. One went to the marina and SA1 and another travelled Llangyfelach Road. We joined the latter.
After a quick tour of the Griffith John Street flats in Brynmelyn the team continued up the road – near Hik’s chip shop they found three boys aged just 14 and 15, two of whom had cannabis. It was 1.30am. The boys were taken home. Some awkward conversations with worried mams were likely to be next.
By 2am Wind Street was beginning to wind down, perhaps assisted by the rain.
All eyes now turn to Boxing Day night when the crowds are once again expected to return to Wind Street.
And the police will be ready for them.
Black Friday in Cardiff is a notorious night.
The capital is already packed on a normal Friday so the combination of people finishing work for Christmas and the promise of some festive fun means the city is even busier.
Tens of thousands flock to its bars and clubs and dozens of extra police are brought in.
Before any officers head out on to the streets they are all brought