South Wales Police officer sex offences horrifying, chief says
- Published
Jeremy Vaughan said he will "stop at nothing" to root out police misconduct
People are right to be horrified at the misconduct of some South Wales Police officers in the past year, the man in charge of the force has said.
PC Lewis Edwards, from Bridgend, was jailed for life in October after grooming 200 girls on Snapchat.
A former police officer was sentenced to 15 months in prison in August for having sex with a vulnerable victim of crime.
Chief Constable Jeremy Vaughan said he would continue to root out misconduct.
Edwards had 4,500 indecent images of children and admitted 160 counts of child sexual abuse and blackmail, after threatening underage girls on social media.
He will serve a minimum sentence of 12 years.
Edwards joined the force as a police constable in January 2021 but has since been barred from policing.
Lewis Edwards pleaded guilty to 160 counts of child sex abuse and blackmail
Mr Vaughan said Edwards was suspended as soon as his conduct was revealed.
"The moment we knew about it, we dealt with it," he said. "There is no other word for it than horrifying and people quite rightly, are shocked and stunned by it, as am I."
In August former police officer Richard Helling was jailed for having sex with a vulnerable victim of crime he met on duty.
He pleaded guilty to four counts of corruption, perverting the course of justice and misuse of a police computer.
The 49-year-old from Bridgend was sentenced to 15 months in prison.
Richard Helling admitted corruption, perverting the course of justice and misuse of a police computer
At the time, Mr Vaughan said Helling's behaviour was "shameful and unforgivable".
The force has said there are no issues with vetting, but there is concern these cases have eroded public trust.
Mr Vaughan said: "People are rightly horrified with some of the conduct we've seen this year.
"It's despicable, but I've got rid of them and made sure they won't be in policing again.
"I'm very worried about trust. It's one of the most precious things that define the relationship between the police and the public."
Mr Vaughan said, among the 6,000 employees, there would be people that let him down.
"The best I can do is find them, get rid of them, and make sure that those who are left are not let down by those who were determined to let them down.
"I feel that the organisation is responding to that. And I'm responsive to it. I am being told of behaviour more than ever before and I'm responding to it," he said.
He said some employees breach the standards of professional behaviour and misuse their access to private information.
Mr Vaughan added out of the 12 forces in England and Wales, the inspectorate investigating counter corruption, vetting and standards only found two were good.
"We were one of them and I want us to be outstanding," he said.
Mr Vaughan said he was "convinced" he had "upstanding people" working for him who were prepared to call out poor behaviour.
He said the high-profile criminal cases against officers in the past year were down to his anti-corruption unit and his determination to root out misconduct.
Mr Vaughan said 1,000 staff had been taken on in the past four years since he became chief constable.
"I've got a workforce who are young, keen, and determined to protect the public," he said.
"I would ask the public to work with me to make policing feel like a valued public service in our country because we need it, and we need it to be as strong as it can be.
"Every day without fail, I hear stories of people doing heroic work," he said. "People who have gone the extra mile, people who've safeguarded a child. People who have investigated the most horrendous crimes and people will see that.
"My reassurance is to deal with us as you find us and accept the fact that I am trying to root out the bad things," Mr Vaughan said.
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