CIVILIAN police support officers have been sent to road traffic accidents, domestic abuse reports and to deal with violent offenders, inspectors have found. 

Police and Community Support Officers, PCSOs, told HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services Gwent Police sends them to incidents they aren’t trained or equipped to deal with including reports of people threatening violence, sometimes with weapons. 

The report has laid bare the pressures facing the force which has also had to regularly divert neighbourhood policing officers from their duties to attend incidents ranging from collecting drugs seized at ports and airports “well outside the force area”, to reports of illegal possession of XL Bully dogs and acting as detention officers in custody suites. 

Crime and disorder reduction officers said they have had to support domestic abuse hearings at court “at short notice, which they don’t feel trained for”. 

The inspection report, which found the Gwent force must improve how it investigates crime and protects the vulnerable, noted as a result officers often have had to cancel planned work with communities and partner agencies. 

The report also highlighted the demands on police sergeants with some overseeing more than 100 criminal investigations each while there were examples of sergeants responsible for as many as 247 and 336 cases. 

Investigating crime, protecting the vulnerable and leadership and force management were all graded as requiring improvement while recording data about crime was marked “outstanding” in the report that covers the period 2023 to 2025. 

All other graded areas of the force’s work were ranked as adequate including preventing crime which is where the inspectors highlighted concerns from PCSOs and neighbourhood policing teams about being pulled away from their core duties and responding to incidents they aren’t equipped for. 

The inspectors also noted: “Many neighbourhood policing staff reported low morale and infrequent contact with sergeants and inspectors.” 

Since January this year neighbourhood policing, along with response and criminal investigation departments, has formed one of the three pillars of Gwent Police’s new operating model based on policing functions rather than local policing areas. 

But at the time of the inspection the force was yet to decide the optimum number of skilled staff required for the neighbourhood team and inspectors said it is “too early to judge how effectively its new structures will translate into stable and consistent neighbourhood policing.” 

The report did find neighbourhood teams “are well briefed and work effectively to tackle crime and disorder in local communities” and highlighted a number of initiatives across the force area. 

Where the inspectors identified shortcoming in how the force investigates crime it highlighted the demand on sergeants and on protecting vulnerable people raised concern it doesn’t have enough staff in its safeguarding hubs to meet demand. 

In response to the inspection report Chief Constable Mark Hobrough said Gwent Police has taken steps, over the past six months, to address the areas requiring improvement and was pleased the inspectors “recognised us as outstanding in promptly and accurately recording crime, particularly in cases involving sexual offences and anti-social behaviour. 

“We have made significant improvements in how we respond to the public, including consistent rapid responses to 999 calls from our force contact centre.”