Gwent Police

Organisation

Governance

Like most police forces in England and Wales, Gwent Police is overseen by the elected Gwent Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), who replaced the former police authority of councillors, magistrates and lay members in 2012. The PCC is currently Jane Mudd.

Structure

Gwent Police has two local policing areas:

• East – Newport and Monmouthshire
• West – Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen

These divisions are run practically independently, controlled by a chief superintendent. Both contain three departments, each under a chief inspector; CID, Neighbourhood Operations (providing community officers and local response) and Neighbourhood Support (including traffic and public order teams, among other things). However, there are still some departments that cover the whole force, including the dog section, rural crime team, and training functions.

The force has its headquarters at Llantarnam in Cwmbran.

Collaborations

Gwent Police has participated in collaborations with other agencies to improve service and reduce costs at a time of government cuts. Examples of collaborations include:

• Joint Response Unit (with Welsh Ambulance Service) – where a special constable works alongside a paramedic or technician. Funded by the Welsh Ambulance Service and staffed by Gwent Police Special Constabulary.
• Joint Firearms Unit (with Dyfed–Powys Police and South Wales Police)
• Tarian (with Dyfed-Powys Police and South Wales Police) – regional organised crime unit.
• Wales Extremism and Counter Terrorism Unit (with Dyfed-Powys Police, South Wales Police and North Wales Police)
• South Wales Joint Scientific Investigation Unit (with South Wales Police) – processes all forensic submissions
• Air support is provided by the National Police Air Service (NPAS) – mainly using NPAS47, a Eurocopter EC135 Police Helicopter based at MOD St Athan, supported by NPAS43 from Almondsbury near Bristol.
• Missing Children's Unit (with local councils)
• Youth Offending Service (with local councils, healthcare bodies, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), and Probation Service).
• Joint Legal Services (with South Wales Police)
• Joint Printing Unit (with South Wales Police)
• Record Management (with South Wales Police)

Police stations and offices

Gwent Police operate both fully-fledged police stations, and several offices and shops that serve as points of contact with the public. For example, the police station at Abertillery closed due to budget cuts, but the police still maintain a presence at the local fire station. In Abergavenny, neighbourhood officers are available at a "one stop shop" shared with Monmouthshire County Council. On the other hand, several buildings are owned for operational or administrative purposes that are not open to the public, including the force headquarters in Cwmbran. Newport Central police station is the only front desk service that is available 24 hours a day, a custody suite is based at the station. Several front offices and stations have been partially or fully closed following a review of the function and role of front desks in police stations.

Chief constables

• 19671981: William Farley
• 19811994: John Over
• 19941996: Sir Anthony Burden
• 19971999: Francis J. Wilkinson
• 1999?: Keith Turner
• 20042008: Michael Tonge
• 20082010: Mick Giannasi
• 20112013: Carmel Napier
• 20132017: Jeff Farrar
• 2017June 2019: Julian Williams
• June 2019present: Pam Kelly

Media engagement

In 2009, Gwent Police worked with film maker Peter Watkins-Hughes to create the short film Cow as part of a campaign to stop texting while driving. The film earned honours in the Advertising Age's weekly Creativity Top 5 video and became an overnight worldwide internet hit after being shown on the USA The Today Show television show.

In 2019, a mugshot of a wanted drug dealer that Gwent Police had posted to Facebook received than 89,000 comments, many of which mocked his hairstyle. Gwent Police warned that abusive comments could be against the law.

References

References

1. (July 2020). "Police Funding for England & Wales, 2015-2021". Home Office.
2. (26 February 2015). "The work of Welsh Government funded Community Support Officers, Appendix E - Gwent Police Force Area Report".
3. (27 February 2018). "Fleet List of Gwent Police Vehicles - a Freedom of Information request to Gwent Police".
4. (2017-04-08). "Milk theft and no radios: Policing Gwent in the 1960s". BBC News.
5. (30 July 2020). "Data tables for 'Police workforce, England and Wales: 31 March 2020 third edition'".
6. "Our Structure".
7. "About".
8. "Find Your Local Police Station".
9. (26 March 2004). "Ex-police chief dies in blaze". BBC News.
10. (26 August 1993). "Police 'in peril' from Sheehy report". [[The Independent]].
11. (11 October 2010). "Gwent Police chief constable Mick Giannasi to retire". BBC News.
12. (13 April 2017). "Gwent Police Chief Constable Jeff Farrar to retire". BBC News.
13. "Chief Constable Julian Williams". Gwent Police.
14. "New chief constable announced by PCC". Gwent Police.
15. (12 August 2019). "Pam Kelly named Gwent Police chief constable".
16. "Cow - the film that will stop you texting and driving".
17. WalesOnline. (25 August 2009). "Graphic film about dangers of texting is internet hit".
18. "Creativity Top 5: 24 August 2009".
19. Quinn, Ben. (12 August 2019). "Gwent police warn people who mock wanted drug dealer's receding hairline". [[The Guardian]].