Latest crime stats reveal fall in anti-social behaviour

Richard Youle, local democracy reporter

Anti-social behaviour and several types of crime fell in Swansea in 2024 but more young people who display toxic masculinity are being referred to the authorities, a meeting has heard.

There were 4,379 reports of anti-social behaviour in the county in 2024, which was 1,387 fewer than the year before. The drop was most pronounced in the city centre.

Serious violence reports in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot totalled 3,304, down from 3,540 in 2023. There were 148 knife crime reports in the two counties compared to 162 the previous year. Commercial and domestic burglaries also fell.

The figures were given in a report discussed by Swansea councillors and police and council representatives.

Shoplifting

Shoplifting increased though and drug use and the supply of drugs remains a challenge. South Wales Police chief inspector James Ratti said 36 so-called county lines gangs had been disrupted and 161 arrests made in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot, according to the most recent figures, up from 26 disruptions and 101 arrests the previous period.

Chief inspector Ratti said: “As soon as we shut one (county line) down another one starts up.”

He added that the delivery of drugs to people via so-called fast parcels was a problem. Police intercepted around 50 of them per month in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot, which chief inspector Ratti said was potentially “the tip of the iceberg”.

Cllr Wendy Lewis said she had spoken to a worried mother whose son was ordering drugs online, and that often vulnerable young men were the ones ordering.

“It’s not always the naughty people who want to take drugs and get them delivered, it’s the very vulnerable people,” she said.

‘Productive’

Police chief superintendent Steve Jones said it had been a “very productive year” in terms of tackling anti-social behaviour and that the county lines disruption was a “remarkable achievement”, but said there was more work to do.

The meeting went on to hear about efforts by the authorities to address hate crime, which is increasing, extremism and toxic masculinity. This work has included social media content aimed at supporting parents.

Cllr Peter Black said he believed social media was the main issue in terms of fuelling such behaviour. Kelly Richards, from the council’s child and family services department, said social media could have benefits for young people, but added: “The difficulty is where parents don’t understand what their child is accessing, and that is what the majority of this campaign is around.”

Paul Thomas, the council’s community integration manager, said there had been a significant increase in the number of young people referred via the UK’s Prevent programme, which aims to prevent terrorism by identifying people who have become radicalised or are susceptible to radicalisation. A number of these referrals, he said, were people exhibiting toxic masculinity and “incel” – or involuntary celibate – ideology which he said was also linked to “extremist narratives”.

“What we are seeing is the links between this world that young males seem to want to be part of and extremist ideology,” said Mr Thomas.

Chief inspector Ratti said a school had been in touch as its leaders were worried about an increase in toxic masculinity.

Off-road bikes

The meeting, which covered the work of the multi-agency Safer Swansea Partnership in 2024 , also heard that off-road bikes and scramblers were an issue for police, particularly in terms of how officers could pursue them given there might be two riders with no helmets on them.

Chief inspector Ratti said the preferred tactic was the public letting police know who the individuals were and where they stored their off-rode bikes and scamblers. The meeting was told police have access 24/7 to drones which can take footage and match people’s faces to facial recognition software. The force also has a team which monitors social media, which can include people live-streaming footage of themselves riding illegally on off-road bikes.

Cllr Lyndon Jones said he’d heard of a “go around Gower in an hour” challenge which people were taking on and trying to beat.