Complaints regarding use of force during arrest - South Wales Police, September 2017

At 1am on 27 September 2017, South Wales Police officers attended the home address of a suspect in a number of burglaries in order to arrest him. They forced entry to the middle flat in the address, where he was believed to be living, and found it empty. However, another resident of the block of flats informed them that there had been a domestic incident involving the man's girlfriend, who was known to be at high risk of domestic violence. The officers therefore returned two hours later to check on her welfare.

When the officers went back to the block of flats later in the shift, the man's girlfriend let them into the building and they went to speak to the resident in the top flat, where she had been prior to their arrival. The man was discovered hiding behind a sofa in the flat and was struck with a police baton prior to being arrested.

Our investigation began following a complaint from the man that he had been subjected to an "unprovoked attack" with a police baton. The officer who struck the man was interviewed under criminal caution in relation to potential offences of grievous and actual bodily harm against the man. All other officers were interviewed as witnesses.

No body-worn video footage of the incident was available. The investigation established that two officers equipped with body-worn video cameras were present. They stated that they did not activate their cameras because they considered that this was not required as they were conducting a welfare check on the woman, which did not meet the criteria for video recording.

The investigation found that, while video recording would have been advisable, the fact that the woman was not in her own flat (where it was alleged that there had been a domestic incident) and the fact that the officers had only recently been issued with the video equipment may have contributed to the cameras not being used.

The officer who struck the man with a police baton admitted responsibility for his actions and provided justification for his use of force.

Having taken into account the available evidence, including the applicable legislation, policies and procedures that govern the use of force, we found no indication that any person serving with the police may have behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings.

After reviewing our report, South Wales Police agreed.

Our investigation also highlighted concerns around inappropriate and negative comments made by another officer. The force agreed and arranged for the officer to be spoken to by their line manager to encourage reflection, learning and improvement.