11 Jun 2020
On Wednesday, 10 June 2020, Police and Crime Commissioner Dafydd Llywelyn held a virtual Community Engagement Day for Ceredigion residents, where he held a virtual public meeting over Zoom, and met with a group of anti-racism campaigners from mid-Wales.
The Office of Police and Crime Commissioner typically holds Community Engagement days once every month at different areas within the Dyfed-Powys area, where the Commissioner meets with various partners, organisations, commissioned services, as well as holding a public meeting for residents.
However, lockdown measures that came into force back in March meant that all public engagement activities had to be cancelled. Since the end of April however, the Police and Crime Commissioner has slowly re-started some public engagement activities and has held several public meetings.
Dafydd Llywelyn, Police and Crime Commissioner said, “It was great to speak with community representatives in Ceredigion today as part of the virtual engagement day. It is a duty of mine to ensure that I continue to engage with the communities as often as I can so that I can ensure their voice is represented – especially during these unprecedented times.
“Even though it is not possible in these times to meet face to face, personally, I think it’s fantastic to see how people have embraced the technology available to them to ensure that we can continue to engage and communicate effectively and efficiently with each other.
“Today was my second virtual community engagement day, and needless to say, several of the questions raised were in relation to policing lockdown, and the effects of the pandemic on the day to day lives of people in rural communities within Ceredigion.
“We had some questions and concerns also over drug problems in some areas, and questions in relation to police presence at some Police Stations. To that extent, it was great to have Superintendent Robyn Mason in attendance to provide an operational input to the discussions on behalf of the Police. I’d like to thank everyone who joined us for the meeting, and for their valuable contribution.”
Superintendant Robyn Mason said “It was great to be part of the Commissioner’s Public Meeting today, and to be able to update residents and community leaders on our response to the challenges that we face today in terms of policing. Responding to community concerns is a huge part of our work, and we are grateful for the continued support of the public all across Ceredigion.
Later on in the day, the Commissioner also met with anti-racism campaigners from West Wales who requested an opportunity to meet with the Commissioner during the engagement day, so to have a direct conversation to ensure a better understanding of his work and to find out more about what is being done to ensure that anti-racism is embedded in local policing.
Mr Llywelyn said, “I was grateful for the opportunity to meet with the anti-racism campaign group to explain my role as the Commissioner, especially at this point in time with all the protests that are happening around the world. Now that we have created a link with them as a group and had an opportunity to discuss, I look forward to meeting up with them again in the near future.
ENDS
More indormation:
Gruff Ifan
Gruffudd.ifan.OPCC@dyfed-powys.pnn.police.uk
