OUR INCREASINGLY THIN BLUE LINE

The Police Federation has just surveyed its members, and has found that officers in Wales have been assaulted more often during the coronavirus pandemic than their English colleagues. The Federation found Welsh officers were more likely to have been insulted, threatened, hit or kicked, with more than a third having been insulted at least once a week, a quarter were threatened and 17% were attacked.  

The Federation’s Welsh lead said it was possible that the higher rate of Covid rule enforcement may have made a difference.  The survey is carried out every two years with 888 Welsh officers taking part, with 35% saying they were verbally insulted at least once a week, 24% reporting verbal threats at least once a week and 17% were physically attacked without a weapon. While a police officers lot may not be a happy one this is totally unacceptable, if we are truly to stand up for our Police officers then its time to devolve Policing to Cymru / Wales as Westminster is not interested. . 

Our Senedd is quite unique, it is the only devolved legislature within these islands not to have any control over its nation’s police forces. Now it’s worth noting, that control over Policing is devolved to Scotland (effectively since 1945), Northern Ireland, England, London, Manchester and even the City of London. Even the Crown dependencies: the Channel Islands, the Isle of Mann and even the overseas territories (some of which are a focus for tax avoidance / tax evasion) have democratic control over their own Police services. 

It is worth noting that back in 2017 Plaid Cymru called a vote on devolving policing during the passing of the Wales Bill through the Houses of Parliament. We should remember that given an opportunity to devolve Policing to Wales, the Conservatives voted it down and the Labour in Wales MP’s abstained. This provides yet another example of the way the Conservative Party and Labour Party happily co-operate at Westminster to disadvantage Cymru / Wales. So much for standing up for our national interests and our Police officers.