A leading Welsh politician has called on the home secretary to take Gwent Police into special measures.
The Welsh force, which covers south east Wales, has been embroiled in multiple scandals in recent years. Just a few months ago several senior officers were sacked for committing gross misconduct with one officer found to have inappropriately touched a woman. Over the last two weeks there have been horrific revelations from the Whatsapp messages of a deceased officer which showed officers sharing racist, sexist, and misogynistic messages.
During First Minister's Questions on Tuesday, November 22 Welsh Tory leader Andrew RT Davies told Lesley Griffiths (Mark Drakeford was away in Qatar): "I have no confidence in the senior leadership of the Gwent force, whether that be at officer level or whether that be at the police and crime commissioner level. These revelations are horrendous, to say the least."
Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Jane Dodds has also called for a full independent inquiry into Gwent Police saying that trust in the force has been undermined and questioned with the force's elected police and crime commissioner, Jeff Cuthbert, should remain in post.
Mr Davies has now written to the Home Secretary saying that the force should be placed into special measures as he has no confidence in the PCC for Gwent and the senior leadership at officer level to rectify the situation. WalesOnline interview Police and Crime Commissioner Jeff Cuthbert last week to challenge him on the seemingly toxic culture within the force. You can read that interview here.
Here is the full letter Mr Davies sent to the home secretary:
Dear Home Secretary,
I know you will have seen reports in the Sunday Times about the activities of some police officers in the Gwent Police Force. The reports and allegations point to what I would characterise as a culture of widespread misogyny, racism and homophobia.
The political and operational leadership in Gwent Police have lost control, and I have no confidence in the ability of the Gwent Police Force’s senior leadership or the Police and Crime Commissioner in the area to tackle these deep rooted cultural issues at present.
That view is shared by Emma, the daughter of the late police officer Ricky Jones - the subject of the Sunday Times report - who found the messages that sparked the Sunday Times story on her late father’s phone. Emma feared going to the Gwent Police over her father’s abuse of her and her mother because e had ‘sorted it’ with other officers.
I know there will be many people across Gwent, especially women, who also lack confidence in the senior leadership to stamp out this culture. I am writing to ask you to consider placing the force into special measures. I fear the rot may be so deep that the force needs to be rebuilt in order to give confidence to the public and the majority of decent officers and staff in Gwent Police.
Kind regards, Andrew RT Davies MS
These are not the only times the culture of the force has been questioned. Two years ago they had to apologise to two female officers who were abused by a serving Gwent Police officer. You can read this story in full here.
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