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South Wales Argus
28-06-2025
- South Wales Argus
Gwent Police pressures identified in inspection report
Police and Community Support Officers, PCSOs, told HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services Gwent Police sends them to incidents they aren't trained or equipped to deal with including reports of people threatening violence, sometimes with weapons. The report has laid bare the pressures facing the force which has also had to regularly divert neighbourhood policing officers from their duties to attend incidents ranging from collecting drugs seized at ports and airports 'well outside the force area', to reports of illegal possession of XL Bully dogs and acting as detention officers in custody suites. Crime and disorder reduction officers said they have had to support domestic abuse hearings at court 'at short notice, which they don't feel trained for'. The inspection report, which found the Gwent force must improve how it investigates crime and protects the vulnerable, noted as a result officers often have had to cancel planned work with communities and partner agencies. The report also highlighted the demands on police sergeants with some overseeing more than 100 criminal investigations each while there were examples of sergeants responsible for as many as 247 and 336 cases. Investigating crime, protecting the vulnerable and leadership and force management were all graded as requiring improvement while recording data about crime was marked 'outstanding' in the report that covers the period 2023 to 2025. All other graded areas of the force's work were ranked as adequate including preventing crime which is where the inspectors highlighted concerns from PCSOs and neighbourhood policing teams about being pulled away from their core duties and responding to incidents they aren't equipped for. The inspectors also noted: 'Many neighbourhood policing staff reported low morale and infrequent contact with sergeants and inspectors.' Since January this year neighbourhood policing, along with response and criminal investigation departments, has formed one of the three pillars of Gwent Police's new operating model based on policing functions rather than local policing areas. But at the time of the inspection the force was yet to decide the optimum number of skilled staff required for the neighbourhood team and inspectors said it is 'too early to judge how effectively its new structures will translate into stable and consistent neighbourhood policing.' A Gwent Police car. The report did find neighbourhood teams 'are well briefed and work effectively to tackle crime and disorder in local communities' and highlighted a number of initiatives across the force area. Where the inspectors identified shortcoming in how the force investigates crime it highlighted the demand on sergeants and on protecting vulnerable people raised concern it doesn't have enough staff in its safeguarding hubs to meet demand. In response to the inspection report Chief Constable Mark Hobrough said Gwent Police has taken steps, over the past six months, to address the areas requiring improvement and was pleased the inspectors 'recognised us as outstanding in promptly and accurately recording crime, particularly in cases involving sexual offences and anti-social behaviour. 'We have made significant improvements in how we respond to the public, including consistent rapid responses to 999 calls from our force contact centre.'
South Wales Argus
27-06-2025
- South Wales Argus
Gwent Police PEEL inspection report says improvements needed
Inspectors found the force is improving the service it provides to victims of rape and other serious crime but said 'overall, it brings too few offenders to justice and too many of its investigations lack effective supervision.' It has also been told it needs to improve how promptly it attends 999 calls 'in particular those involving domestic abuse victims' and make sure it updates callers on delays to officers attending. The force also doesn't 'yet have a clear understanding' of why it takes the force longer to attend domestic abuse related incidents than other incidents. Mark Hobrough was appointed as the new chief constable for Gwent in December last year and the force has also been told its leadership and management requires improvement, including in how it informs staff of changes. All other graded areas of the force's work were ranked as adequate by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, in its PEEL inspection of the effectiveness of the force from 2023 to 2025, other than recording data about crime which was marked 'outstanding'. Inspectors also looked at how 'effective a service' Gwent Police gives to victims of crime but doesn't make a graded judgment for this area. Workloads for officers, including sergeants, was identified as a shortcoming in investigating crime and of 73 cases inspectors examined only 64 had investigation plans which met national standards. 'Realistic lines of inquiry' were also missed in 28 cases with only 65 of 93 cases effectively supervised. Inspectors found, in November 2024, there were 36 sergeants overseeing more than 100 criminal investigations each with one response policing sergeant responsible for 247 cases and a sergeant in the 'virtual response team' supervising 336 cases. Several cases of rapes, assaults and sexual offences against children hadn't received any 'apparent supervisory action for weeks at a time'. Progress towards increasing the number of qualified investigators, and trainees, had improved since being required as an improvement in 2022. The timeliness of investigations could improve, inspectors, said as investigation times lengthened across response, neighbourhood policing and for investigation hubs towards the end of last year. Demands on officers were also identified as behind the requirement for improvement in protecting vulnerable people. The force was also found to be making little use of legal powers to place restrictions on those accused of stalking, applying for just one stalking protection order, in the year ending March 2024, despite recording 1,982 offences. It also hadn't secured any sexual risk orders and its previous eight applications had been unsuccessful. It is working with its legal services department to improve the quality of applications. It was more successful in securing sexual harm prevention orders against convicted sex offenders. Gwent Police recorded 8,936 crimes related to domestic abuse, in the year to September 2024, and made 99 domestic violence protection order applications which was 1.1 per cent of the total. That was within the 'normal range' compared to other forces in England and Wales. However Gwent Police were less likely to make an arrest to aid an investigation into domestic abuse, doing so in just 34.2 per cent of cases, compared to the 43.4 per cent England and Wales rate. Teams for managing sexual and violent offenders are well staffed with manageable workloads and the force ranked as adequate for managing offenders and suspects. However in the year ending September 2024, it had the highest rate of all forces in England and Wales of domestic abuse offences lapsing from pre-charge bail, which carries restrictions on what a person can do, to being released under investigation without any conditions imposed on them, at 23.7 per cent. READ MORE: Inspectors said the force needs to improve how it informs victims, witnesses and suspects of their status related to being bailed or released under investigation. The report said crimes involving sexual offences and anti-social behaviour were a particular example of its outstanding recording of crime. However it still needs to improve recording of protected characteristics, such as race or sexual orientation, of victims to monitor whether certain groups are more likely to be impacted by crime. HM Inspector of Constabulary Michelle Skeer said in her report: 'I am satisfied with some aspects of the performance of Gwent Police in keeping people safe, reducing crime and providing victims with an effective service, but there are areas in which the force needs to improve.'
