Good signing by South Wales Police

A neighbourhood policing team from South Wales Police has opened a gateway to the police service for many deaf people across the region.

The Taff neighbourhood policing team is running regular PACT (police and communities together) meetings for deaf people to give them the opportunity to discuss policing issues with an officer.

The event – which is held in the Glamorgan Mission to the Deaf in Pontypridd – runs the same way as other PACT meetings but a sign language expert, funded by the force, attends as an interpreter.

The scheme has been welcomed by the deaf community and gives many people their first chance to discuss things that concern them or to get crime-prevention advice.

Since the event was first launched earlier this year, it has grown to regularly accommodate more than 30 people from across the region.

Catherine Moore, a support officer, who helps coordinate the event, said: “The event plays a critical role for deaf people in the area. We have found that many of those who attend have little or no engagement with their local officer, so we are very happy to open the doors to the service in this way. We work closely with Gwent Police to ensure issues relevant to people living in their area are acted upon by the relevant neighbourhood policing teams.”