Gwent Police
Gwent Police is a territorial police force in Wales, responsible for policing the local authority areas of Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport and Torfaen.
The force was formed in 1967 by the amalgamation of Monmouthshire Constabulary and Newport Borough Police. In 1974 its area was realigned to cover the new administrative county of Gwent, and in 1996, it was expanded again to cover the former Rhymney Valley district area that had become part of the Caerphilly county borough.
, the force has 1,308 police officers, 70 special constables, 115 police community support officers, 40 police support volunteers, and 647 staff.
Organisation
Governance
Like most police forces in England and Wales, Gwent Police is overseen by the elected Gwent Police and Crime Commissioner, 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
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 – 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
- Tarian – regional organised crime unit.
- Wales Extremism and Counter Terrorism Unit
- South Wales Joint Scientific Investigation Unit – processes all forensic submissions
- Air support is provided by the National Police Air Service – mainly using NPAS47, a Eurocopter EC135 Police Helicopter based at MOD St Athan, supported by NPAS43 from Almondsbury near Bristol.
- Missing Children's Unit
- Youth Offending Service.
- Joint Legal Services
- Joint Printing Unit
- Record Management
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.