DYFED-POWYS POLICE: Force rated only ‘adequate’ as inspectors raise alarm over organised crime

Police across southern Wales are spotting strikingly few organised crime threats compared with the rest of the country, a watchdog has warned.

And it comes even as the region boasts some of the highest numbers of raids and disruptions in England and Wales.

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) looked at how Dyfed-Powys Police, Gwent Police, South Wales Police and regional crime unit Tarian work together to fight serious and organised crime.

Its report, out today, found that by July last year the region had pinned down just 93 organised crime threats.

The next lowest region in England and Wales had found 219.

Even allowing for the fact that southern Wales is a small region, inspectors said, “this gap is concerning.”

It sits awkwardly next to the headline the forces have trumpeted — that Tarian logged 2,650 disruptions in the year to June 2025, the second highest of any regional crime unit in the country.

Inspectors said the region needed to find “more diverse types” of organised crime, warning it was too focused on crime gangs while missing dangerous individuals and other threats.

Two-thirds of the threats it did find were drug-related — a bigger share than the national average.

The watchdog rated Tarian and South Wales Police as “good.” But it marked both Dyfed-Powys Police and Gwent Police only “adequate” — the second of four possible grades.

For Dyfed-Powys Police, which covers Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Powys, inspectors spelled out what was dragging the grade down.

The force’s specialist organised crime team could only handle one investigation at a time, the report found.

In one case, an operation “had made little progress for 12 months” — until the team was finally free to pick it up.

Inspectors also found some frontline officers were shaky on the basics, with a few “unfamiliar with basic” organised crime terms. The force also needed to do better at keeping tabs on crime bosses once they leave prison.

It wasn’t all bad for Dyfed-Powys. The report praised the force’s victim-first approach to fraud, a £3m pot from the police and crime commissioner to tackle serious violence, and 14 officers funded to take crime-prevention talks into schools and universities after the Welsh Government pulled its funding.

The force had also sharpened up its record-keeping, logging 822 disruptions in the year to June 2025, up from 541 the year before.

South Wales Police, which covers Swansea and Neath Port Talbot, fared better, earning a “good” grade.

The force had roughly doubled its disruptions, from 1,698 to 3,395 in a year — the biggest tally of any force in the region.

But even here inspectors sounded a note of caution, with analysts telling them there was “at times too much focus on hitting targets” — leading to some disruptions being logged that didn’t meet national standards.

Inspectors singled out the force’s “Clear, Hold, Build” projects — a tactic that floods a troubled area with police and partners, then works to keep crime down for good.

On one estate, the report found that after an 18-month project, calls to the control room fell by 67% and overall crime dropped by 28%.

At the time of the inspection, the force was planning two more such projects, in Swansea and Cardiff.

The Swansea project has since taken shape in Dyfatty, where a major crackdown launched last year cut anti-social behaviour by 69% and later saw empty shops reborn as a community hub.

The report lands as forces across the region keep hammering drug networks, including a multi-area operation that jailed a cocaine gang flooding south Wales with class A drugs and a string of dawn raids by South Wales Police’s organised crime team.

Tarian itself came in for praise. Set up in 2003, the unit became what inspectors believe may be the only regional crime team in England and Wales to hire a dedicated expert in artificial intelligence.

Assistant Chief Constable Gemma Morris, who leads Tarian, said much of the unit’s work was “necessarily covert and often unseen by the public.”

“This report provides an important opportunity to demonstrate the effectiveness of that work and the difference it makes in protecting our communities,” she said.

She said serious and organised crime “causes significant harm to our communities,” and thanked Tarian’s officers and staff, along with colleagues across the three forces and partner agencies.

ACC Morris said inspectors had recognised many of the unit’s strengths, “including our strong relationships with partners and our commitment to innovation.”

“At the same time, we acknowledge that there are areas where we must continue to improve, and we are already taking forward plans to address the recommendations identified,” she said.

She added: “Our focus remains firmly on protecting the public. We will continue to work closely with our regional forces and partners to disrupt organised crime, safeguard those most at risk, and ensure that offenders are brought to justice.”