Gwent Police ( cy, Heddlu Gwent) is a

territorial police force A territorial police force is a police service that is responsible for an area defined by sub-national boundaries, distinguished from other police services which deal with the entire country or a type of crime. In countries organized as federations, ...

in Wales, responsible for policing the local authority areas of

Blaenau Gwent Blaenau Gwent (; ) is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It borders the unitary authority areas of Monmouthshire and Torfaen to the east, Caerphilly to the west and Powys to the north. Its main towns are Abertillery, Brynmawr, Ebbw ...

Caerphilly Caerphilly (, ; cy, Caerffili, ) is a town and community in Wales. It is situated at the southern end of the Rhymney Valley. It is north of Cardiff and northwest of Newport. It is the largest town in Caerphilly County Borough, and lies wi ...

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, wit ...

, Newport and

Torfaen Torfaen (; cy, Torfaen ) is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. Torfaen is bordered by the county of Monmouthshire to the east, the city of Newport to the south, and the county boroughs of Caerphilly and Blaenau Gwent to the south-w ...

. The force was formed in 1967 by the amalgamation of

Monmouthshire Constabulary Monmouthshire Constabulary was the Home Office police force for the county of Monmouthshire (excluding the county borough of Newport), United Kingdom until 1967. The force was established in 1857. In 1967 it amalgamated with Newport Borough Poli ...

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

county borough. , the force has 1,308

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

s, 70 special constables, 115

police community support officer A police community support officer (PCSO; cy, swyddog cymorth cymunedol yr heddlu, SCCH), or as written in legislation community support officer (CSO; cy, swyddog cymorth cymunedol, SCC) is a uniformed member of police staff in England and Wal ...

s (PCSO), 40 police support volunteers (PSV), 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 (PCC), who replaced the former police authority of councillors, magistrates and lay members in 2012. The PCC is currently Jeff Cuthbert.

Structure

Gwent Police has two local policing areas: * East – Newport and

* West –

and

These divisions are run practically independently, controlled by a

chief superintendent Chief superintendent is a senior rank in police forces, especially in those organised on the British model. Rank insignia of chief superintendent File:Sa-police-chief-superintendent.png, South Australia Police File:RCMP Chief Superintendent.p ...

. Both contain three departments, each under a

chief inspector Chief inspector (Ch Insp) is a rank used in police forces which follow the British model. In countries outside Britain, it is sometimes referred to as chief inspector of police (CIP). Usage by country Australia The rank of chief inspector is us ...

; 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

Croesyceiliog Croesyceiliog (, ''Cockerel's Cross'') is a suburb of Cwmbran, Wales. Housing Croesyceiliog is primarily a residential district and contains a wide variety of housing from Victorian terraces and even older Welsh cottages to property built bet ...

Cwmbran Cwmbran ( ; cy, Cwmbrân , also in use as an alternative spelling in English) is a town in the county borough of Torfaen in South Wales. Lying within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, Cwmbran was designated as a New Town in 1949 to prov ...

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 Dyfed–Powys Police ( cy, Heddlu Dyfed–Powys) is the territorial police force in Wales policing Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire (which make up the former administrative area of Dyfed) and the unitary authority of Powys (cover ...

and

South Wales Police South Wales Police ( cy, Heddlu De Cymru) is one of the four territorial police forces in Wales. It is headquartered in Bridgend. The force was formed as South Wales Constabulary on 1 June 1969, by the amalgamation of the former Glamorgan Cons ...

) * 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 North Wales Police ( cy, Heddlu Gogledd Cymru) is the territorial police force responsible for policing North Wales. Its headquarters are in Colwyn Bay. , the force has 1,510 police officers, 170 special constables, 182 police community suppor ...

) * 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 The Eurocopter EC135 (now Airbus Helicopters H135) is a twin-engine civil light utility helicopter produced by Airbus Helicopters (formerly known as Eurocopter). It is capable of flight under instrument flight rules (IFR) and is outfitted wit ...

Police Helicopter based at

MOD St Athan Ministry of Defence St Athan or MOD St Athan (Welsh: Maes awyr Sain Tathan), formerly known as RAF St Athan, is a large Ministry of Defence unit near the village of St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan, southern Wales. It was the designated site for ...

, supported by NPAS43 from

Almondsbury Almondsbury () is a large village near junction 16 of the M5 motorway, in South Gloucestershire, England, and a civil parish which also includes the villages of Hortham, Gaunt's Earthcott, Over, Easter Compton, Compton Greenfield, Hallen and ...

near Bristol. * Missing Children's Unit (with local councils) * Youth Offending Service (with local councils, healthcare bodies,

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) is the name for NHS-provided services in the United Kingdom for children, generally until school-leaving age, who are having difficulties with their emotional well-being or are deemed to have pe ...

(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 Abertillery (; cy, Abertyleri) is a town and a community of the Ebbw Fach valley in the historic county of Monmouthshire, Wales. Following local government reorganisation it became part of the Blaenau Gwent County Borough administrative area ...

closed due to budget cuts, but the police still maintain a presence at the local fire station. In

Abergavenny Abergavenny (; cy, Y Fenni , archaically ''Abergafenni'' meaning "mouth of the River Gavenny") is a market town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales. Abergavenny is promoted as a ''Gateway to Wales''; it is approximately from the border wit ...

, neighbourhood officers are available at a "one stop shop" shared with

Monmouthshire County Council Monmouthshire County Council (or simply Monmouthshire Council) ( cy, Cyngor Sir Fynwy) is the governing body for the Monmouthshire principal area – one of the unitary authorities of Wales. The current unitary authority was created in 1996 a ...

. 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

. 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 Texting while driving, also called texting and driving, is the act of composing, sending, or reading text messages on a mobile phone while operating a motor vehicle. Texting while driving is considered extremely dangerous by many people, inclu ...

. The film earned honours in the ''

Advertising Age ''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in mu ...

's'' weekly Creativity Top 5 video and became an overnight worldwide internet hit after being shown on the USA ''

The Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It ...

'' television show. In 2019, a mugshot of a wanted drug dealer that Gwent Police had posted to

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...

received than 89,000 comments, many of which mocked his hairstyle. Gwent Police warned that abusive comments could be against the law.

References

External links

*
Gwent Police
at HMICFRS {{UK home nations police forces Blaenau Gwent Caerphilly County Borough Monmouthshire Newport, Wales Torfaen Government agencies established in 1967 Organizations established in 1967 1967 establishments in Wales Police forces of Wales Organisations based in Newport, Wales Welsh police authorities