Organised crime biggest challenge as force turns 50

Amanda Blakeman became North Wales Police's first female chief in 2022

Tackling organised crime remains the biggest challenge for North Wales Police, its chief constable has said on the force's 50th birthday.

Amanda Blakeman said "organised criminality sits at the top of everything" and causes problems in communities.

She also praised the success of Wrexham AFC, but said the club "becomes more of an issue to police" as it grows.

North Wales Police was created on 1 April 1974.

In a wide-ranging interview with BBC Wales, the chief constable said organised crime - including county lines drugs to online activity - "sits at the top of everything".

She said these criminals made "a huge amount of profit out of communities' misery".

She added the war against county lines - the supply of drugs from urban to rural areas - was a "really difficult battle" but was "one we are absolutely committed to making sure that we are on top of".

Chief Constable Blakeman also said the public "have to have trust in us" with the conduct of officers being closely scrutinised following the rape and murder of Sarah Everard in London in 2021.

She said she had dismissed a number of officers since she became chief constable through accelerated misconduct and panel hearings.

Asked whether the force had the resources to do what it needed, she said: "I could always use more resources, and you know my job as chief is to work with the budget I've got and the resources that I've got and make sure that I target the areas that are the most priority for our local communities."

She added: "If you ask me, 'would I like more resources?' Of course I would. But I appreciate that many, many people are in that position where they want more resources."

Wrexham 'more of a policing issue'

One area where the force has had to direct more resources is Wrexham AFC, which has seen a huge growth in popularity and success since the takeover by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

The chief constable said the club's matchdays were constantly under review from a policing point of view.

"As clubs grow, as a club's popularity grows... they become more successful, so it becomes more and more of a policing issue to be able to deal with the huge influx of visitors and the huge amount of people wanting to travel to support their club," she said.

But she added there were also "some great benefits" from the club, which she said had added a "huge amount of pride in the town", which she said had knock-on effects in terms of the reduction of crime".

Wrexham AFC have seen success on and off the pitch since being taken over

The chief constable was also asked about a mother’s call to change driving laws following the deaths of four teenagers in Gwynedd in November 2023.

Harvey Owen, 17, Jevon Hirst, 16, Wilf Fitchett, 17 and Hugo Morris, 18 , all from Shrewsbury , drowned after a crash in Llanfrothen.

Chief Constable Blakeman said her thoughts remained with the families, adding: "I can understand, you know, the position that's being taken in terms of looking for the opportunity to be able to prevent another family having to go through what's been unbearable, and continues to be unbearable.

"I am always open minded as to opportunities to be able to reduce road traffic incidents, road traffic collisions, especially ones that take the lives of people.

"So I think there is opportunity to look to see what we can do to see whether the changes and improvements need to be made to make the roads of north Wales the safest they can possibly be for people travelling on them."