South Wales Police

South Wales Police Heddlu De Cymru
Agency overview
Formed	1969
Annual budget	£315.8M 2020-2021
Legal personality	Territorial police force
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction	Bridgend, Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil, Neath Port Talbot, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Swansea and Vale of Glamorgan unitary authority areas, UK
South Wales Police operations area
Size	803 square miles (2,080 km2)[1]
Population	1.34 million[1]
Legal jurisdiction	England and Wales
Constituting instrument	Police Act 1996
General nature	Local civilian police
Operational structure
Overseen by	His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services Independent Office for Police Conduct
Headquarters	Bridgend
Police officers	3,119 (2020)[2] 152 special constables (2020)[2]
PCSOs	366 (2020)[2]
Police and Crime Commissioner responsible	Alun Michael, Labour[3]
Agency executive	Jeremy Vaughan, Chief constable
Basic Command Units	Cardiff and the Vale Mid Glamorgan Swansea Neath Port Talbot
Facilities
Stations	43
Total vehicles	773
Website
www.south-wales.police.uk

South Wales Police (Welsh: Heddlu De Cymru; SWP) is one of the four territorial police forces in Wales. It is headquartered in Bridgend.

The force was formed as South Wales Constabulary on 1 June 1969, by the amalgamation of the former Glamorgan Constabulary, Cardiff City Police, Swansea Borough Police and Merthyr Tydfil Borough Police.^[4][5] In 1974, with the reorganisation of local government, the force's area was expanded to cover the newly created counties of Mid, South and West Glamorgan. In 1996, the force adopted its current name and lost the Rhymney Valley area to Gwent Police due to further local government reorganisation.

Today, the force serves the principal areas of Bridgend, Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil, Neath Port Talbot, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Swansea and the Vale of Glamorgan – most of the historic county of Glamorgan.