South Wales Police has apologised to Plaid Cymru’s Leanne Wood for issuing wrong information to the media in response to her criticism of the policing of a counter-English Defence League demonstration.
The AM for South Wales Central had complained about the force detaining anti-fascists within an area ringed by a steel barrier at one end and a line of police officers at the other end near Cardiff’s City Hall on June 5th.
The anti-fascist protestors were warned by police officers that if they entered the area they would not be allowed to leave until after 3pm.
However, in their response to a newspaper story reporting on Ms Wood’s criticisms, a spokeswoman for South Wales Police said “We would…..like to highlight that officers at no stage used containment tactics often referred to as ‘kettling’. Clear exits were provided and made available to individuals at all times and we went to great lengths to communicate this to demonstrators.”
After Ms Wood wrote to the force asking them to rectify the misinformation in press reports, South Wales Police decided to treat the issue as an official complaint.
Following an internal inquiry, the ‘complaint’ has upheld.
In a letter to Ms Wood, Assistant Chief Constable Nick Croft of South Wales Police has also acknowledged the use of detainment tactics on the day itself and apologised for any “potential embarrassment” caused by the force’s initial denial.
He said: “Having reviewed the information I am satisfied that this tactic was employed for sound operational reasons and was intended to prevent an emerging threat of public disorder from escalating.
“However, due to a breakdown in communication, I was not informed that this had occurred and only became aware of the situation after your complaint had been investigated.
“Following the demonstrations, the South Wales Police media statements were based on a belief that the strategic plan had been implemented and that no containment tactic had been utilised. However, now that I am aware that this tactic was employed, I acknowledge some information given by South Wales Police to the media was incorrect.
“I regret this and apologise for any potential embarrassment which may have been caused.”
He added: “We are always willing to learn when areas for improvement have been identified and I have taken steps to ensure that amendments will be made to our training and public order strategies to prevent this from happening again.”
Ms Wood said: “I welcome the apology from South Wales Police as their media statement contradicted my experience and that of hundreds of other anti-fascist protestors on the day of the EDL march.
“I also welcome that the force is taking steps to amend their training and public order strategies as the officer in overall charge on any given day should be kept informed of any major decisions taken on the ground.
“I remain unconvinced about the need to deploy the containment tactics as the anti-fascist protestors conducted themselves peacefully throughout the day and showed no sign of aggression.”
“The mere presence of the EDL and their hate-fuelled agenda posed a far bigger threat to law and order on the day. I hope the EDL have finally got the message they are not welcome in Wales; not now and not ever.”
Ms Wood and her Plaid Cymru colleagues have regularly called for the responsibilities over the police force, probation, prisons and courts in Wales to be devolved to the Assembly Government.
She added: “In order to ensure safer communities we need to ensure that the police and courts are answerable to the Welsh people that they serve.
“The best way of ensuring accountability is for the Assembly to have powers over the criminal justice system, along with the police.”
