Madam,

I found your article by Mike Lewis on the appointment of Insp Fraser at Lampeter Police Station very interesting.

As a retired area commander myself, I cannot emphasise enough the importance of the points Insp Fraser raises.

In particular, from personal experience, I well understand how difficult it is to reduce crime in a high-crime area, but it is a little easier to keep crime levels down in a low-crime area, so, as Insp Fraser says, we cannot become complacent.

There is a lot of evidence now to show that crime is again on the increase and spreading out to the rural areas as the recent media reports on ‘county lines’ have highlighted.

The public plays a vital role in providing information to the police, a point I feel should have been given more emphasis in the article.

I’m sure we all know by now that today’s policing is intelligence-led and therefore information from whatever source is vital if we are going to beat the criminal.

A principle I found that worked for me was Pareto analysis (the 20/80 rule), i.e 80 per cent of crime is committed by 20 per cent of criminals and if you can identify that 20 per cent through sound intelligence (and that is where the public can play a vital role) and then target your resources on those individuals, you can have a significant effect on your crime numbers and the fear of crime.

The point I’m trying to get across is that every single one of us has a part to play in making our communities safe.

Having lived in Nottingham for over 30 years I have now come home and I feel very lucky now to live in Ceredigion, where crime levels are relatively low, let’s keep it that way.

I would hate to see this area become like many other places in the UK. Please, everyone, support our police service. If you have any information no matter how unimportant it may seem to you it could be part of a bigger picture, the missing piece of a jigsaw.

I’m sure your local police would like to hear from you.

Yours etc,

Eddie Ffoulkes-Jones, Trefenter, Aberystwyth.

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