Dyfed-Powys Police does not fully understand the pattern of crime committed by young adults in its own force area, a review by the region’s policing watchdog has found.
The review, by the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Select Committee, looked at how well crime and anti-social behaviour services support 18 to 25-year-olds across Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and Powys.
It concluded that the force “does not fully understand their crime and ASB offending age profiles” — a gap the committee says makes it harder to know where help should be aimed.
When the review began, the force was unable to provide a breakdown of anti-social behaviour offences by the age of the offender at all.
In a further gap, the gender of offenders aged 18 to 25 was recorded as “unknown” or left blank in 60% of certain out-of-court outcomes during 2024.
The committee said this lack of detail made it harder to judge whether different approaches were needed for different groups, and where intervention would work best.
It has recommended the force build a dedicated profile of crime by this age group, and update its data systems so that age is routinely recorded across all its figures.
The review also raised concerns about how often young adults are steered into help instead of prosecution.
A type of resolution known as Outcome 22, which diverts offenders into education or other intervention rather than court, was used just three times for 18 to 25-year-olds in the whole of 2024.
By contrast, it was used 142 times for under-18s.
The committee asked whether the diversion schemes were simply not in place for adults, or whether officers were “less inclined to promote diversion after an offender turns 18”.
It also highlighted what happens when young people turn 18 and existing support falls away.
Council youth services often stop at 18, while the Probation service generally only becomes involved once a young adult has already offended — leaving what the report describes as a gap over who is responsible for this age group.
One young person who responded to the review said they had lost a support worker they had bonded with. “I was arrested for anti-social behaviour … the services aren’t long enough,” they said.
The review found young adults were an outlier in one respect — mental health. The force reported a rise in people aged 16 to 25 coming to police in crisis, often linked to self-harm, a trend it said had been climbing since the Covid pandemic.
The report pointed to the importance of agencies being able to respond, referencing the independent review into the 2024 knife attack at Ysgol Dyffryn Aman in Ammanford, in which a pupil was later sentenced for attempting to murder two teachers and a fellow pupil.
In its response, Dyfed-Powys Police acknowledged a training gap and said a dedicated trainer and analyst would be brought in to improve how officers identify and refer young people into support.
The force pointed to its INTACT early-intervention programme, which works to steer those up to 25 away from serious violence and exploitation, and to its first dedicated mental health conference, held in 2025.
Among the services praised by young people was Swansea City AFC Foundation’s Premier League Kicks, which uses free football sessions to engage young people and was one of the best-known schemes in the survey.
Police and Crime Commissioner Dafydd Llywelyn said the review had given “an important area a spotlight”, and that listening to young adults’ voices had been central to shaping its recommendations.
The Select Committee will ask the relevant agencies for an update on progress in six months.
