Overview

South Wales Police is the largest police force in Wales and although geographically small, covering around 812 square miles and equating to just 10% of the geographical area of Wales, South Wales Police provides a policing service to 1.3 million people (42% of the country’s population).

South Wales is a diverse region, boasting urban, rural and coastal areas and featuring the two largest cities in Wales – Swansea and the capital city, Cardiff. The force also serves 63 of the 100 most deprived communities in Wales.

The force has almost 3000 police officers and over 2200 police staff, including Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) and a team of dedicated volunteers that includes over 200 Special Constables and around 200 Police Youth Volunteers.

The roles of uniformed officers who respond to calls and PCSOs that work out in the community are probably familiar to most people. But policing involves a wide range of different functions, many of which aren’t visible to the public but are nonetheless an essential part of how we police.

The Chief Constable Jeremy Vaughan and Police and Crime Commissioner Emma Wools are responsible for setting the policing priorities for South Wales Police.

Strategic decisions are made  at the South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Strategic Board.

We regularly feedback using public consultation surveys. Compass is a postal-based questionnaire distributed to randomly selected households across the force area. Compass stands for the Community Perception and Satisfaction Survey. It aims to gather information on public perception and experience of crime & anti-social behaviour, views on the local police, awareness and engagement.

We want to police our communities effectively. To do this we need to understand our communities concerns, perceptions and experiences, as we know that perception and experience influence public confidence, which in turn impacts on reporting to and engagement with South Wales Police.

Compass not only measures these things but also allows us to explore relationships between them and to tailor the service we provide.