WELSH GOVERNMENT MUST NOT IGNORE POLICE CONCERNS ABOUT SMACKING BAN

Neil McEvoy, Independent AM for South Wales Central, has called on the Government not to ignore concerns about banning smacking.

Citing a letter from a serving senior police officer sent to AMs this week (see below), Mr McEvoy said,

“There are real concerns about how workable this smacking ban is going to be. Here we’ve got an experienced police officer writing to AMs saying the majority of officers think it is dangerous to pull front-line officers into allegations of a mum tapping her toddler on the behind, or indeed parents in general doing this. They just don’t have the time for this. As he says the ‘front-line is creaking as it is’.

“We’ve got enough trouble enforcing the existing laws against child abuse without confusing the picture by treating mums like abusers just because they use a little tap.

“The Children, Young People and Education Committee have given us a 200 page report on this Bill with twenty recommendations that need to be fulfilled before this ban can become law. There are lots of unknowns. The Government wants us to pass a bill when it cannot tell us how much it is all going to cost or what effect it is going to have on frontline services. It’s time we took a pause to decide if this is really a path we want to go down. I think we’d be far better supporting parents instead of criminalising them.”

PEIDIED LLYWODRAETH CYMRU AG ANWYBYDDU GOFID YR HEDDLU AM Y GWAHARDDIAD SMACIO.

Mae Neil McEvoy, AC Annibynnol dros Ganol De Cymru, wedi galw ar y llywodraeth i bedio anwybyddu gofidiau am y gwarharddiad smacio.

Wrth gyfeirio at lythyr oddiwrth un o swyddogion uchel yr heddlu anfonwyd at Aelodau’r Cynnulliad yr wythnos hon (gweler isod), dywedodd Mr McEvoy, “Mae pryderon go iawn am sut i weithredu’r gwaharddiad smacio arfaethedig.  Mae yma swyddog heddlu profiadol yn ysgrifennu at Aelodau’r Cynulliad i ddweud fod y mwyafrif o swyddogion yn meddwl mai peath peryglys fyddai tynnu swyddogion rheng flaen i honiadau fod mam wedi rhoi tap i’w phlentyn bach ar y pen ôl,  neu’n wir, rhieni yn gyffredinol yn gwneud hyn.  Ni does ganddynt amser am hyn.  Fel y dywed, “Mae’r rheng flaen yn gwegian yn barod.””

“Mae’n ddigon trafferthus gweithredu ar y deddfau camdrin plant presennol heb gymlethu pethau drwy drin mamau fel camdrinwyr am ddefnyddio tap ysgafn.”

“Yn eu hadroddiad 200 tudalen, mai’r Pwyllgor Plant, Pobl Ifanc ac Addysg wedi rhoi 20 o argymhellion fydd rhaid eu cyflawni cyn daw y ddeddf i rym.  Mae yno nifer fawr o bethau anhysbys.  Mae’r Llywodraeth eisiau i ni basio Bil pan nad ydynt yn gwybod beth fydd y gost, na pha effaith bydd yn gael ar wasanaethau rheng flaen.  Rhaid j ni gymryd amser i feddwl os mai dyma’r llwybr yr ydym am ei ddilyn.  Rwy’n meddwl y byddai’n llawer gwell i ni gefnogi rhieni yn hytrach na’u criminaleiddio.”

Gellir gweld y llythyr anfonwyd ar Ddydd Llun 9ed Medi gan y swyddog heddlu di-enw yn llawn isod.
The full text of the letter from the anonymous serving police officer, dated Monday 9 September 2019, is below. (English only)

I’m an experienced, senior officer with a Welsh police force. I’m constrained from speaking out publicly, but I have to do something to try to discourage the Assembly from backing plans to outlaw smacking.

There is no need for a smacking ban. Existing laws are working well. Children are already protected from abuse and physical harm. As officers we know where the line is drawn and so do the public at large. The reasonable chastisement defence only covers the lightest sort of smacking. It stops parents being treated like criminals for no good reason. Removing the defence will remove any discretion we have. It will lead to decent families being traumatised.

I think outlawing smacking is a dangerous idea and the majority of my colleagues feel the same. Any investigation into a complaint that a parent has smacked will be time consuming and will require significant resources.  Not only would there be the front-line officers but also specialists, particularly when it comes to interviewing the child. The “achieving best evidence” protocol would mean specially trained officers being used.  Extensive checks would be carried out along with possible house-to-house enquiries. So neighbours would be asked if they’d seen mum tap her toddler on the behind. Pretty humiliating for her, even if the enquiries come to nothing.

Any accused parent is almost certain to be interviewed under caution. Which is pretty terrifying for most law-abiding people.  Ultimately a wide range of different officers would be involved in any decision with the CPS to prosecute. The time spent on that is time taken away from other priorities.

Front-line officers would be involved in gathering evidence.  That front-line is creaking as it is.  There are already discussions about scaling back policing of some low-level crimes because of resource pressures. That’s not what the public wants. A smacking ban will place additional demands on us at a time when we just can’t afford it. It is unwise, to say the least.

Parents who use excessive force get arrested. But removing the reasonable chastisement defence means parents who have not used excessive force will have to be treated in the same way – as suspects in a criminal investigation. Individuals who otherwise would not be known to the police will be drawn into the system.

The process for dealing with accusations would follow the standard lines of an enquiry into any complaint of child abuse. Which is a very serious allegation. This would lead to the involvement of social services, schools, child protection forums and even third sector organisations that may have contact with the family in question.

Add to this the risk of false allegations from disgruntled children or mud-slinging spouses going through a divorce and you have a recipe for disaster.
I really hope AMs will think again before piling all this onto their local police.