South Wales Police officers accused of watching football match while responding to emergency

  • It's alleged the footage shows two South Wales Police officers watching a Premier League fixture on the opening day of the season.


A video has surfaced which appears to show South Wales police officers watching a football match on a phone while responding to an emergency.

A source told Media Wales the officers were in the moving police vehicle - with flashing lights on - while a phone resting on the dashboard was showing the game.

One of the officers can be heard laughing and a siren is blaring in the short video, which was filmed by the passenger and is said to have been taken in or near Pontypridd at 8:33pm on 5 August last year.

The match being played at the time is understood to be Arsenal's 2-0 win over Crystal Palace — the opening match of last season's Premier League.

The complainant reported the video to the force on 29 September this year. When he showed the footage to an officer at Barry station, he claims he was told "that's not good" but then waited almost a month for an update.

The source, who pointed out that there appear to be homes near the road in the footage, believes the football match could have distracted the driver and put people's safety at risk.

He said: "You can hear them laughing in the background of the video — it's clear evidence of police officers doing the wrong thing.

"If it was a member of the public doing this, I don't think there'd be this delay to take action."

A source told Media Wales the officers were in the moving police vehicle while a phone resting on the dashboard was showing the game. Credit: Media Wales

A spokesman for South Wales Police said: "The complaint currently sits with South Wales Police's Professional Standards Department and will be reviewed, assessed and allocated in the near future.

"The complainant will be updated once the initial assessment and fact finding takes place."

Shortly after this statement, the complainant said he was contacted by an investigator from South Wales Police.


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