Mr Dave Morris has become Wales’ first Asian Black Chief Officer after being appointed to the post of Assistant Chief Constable (Corporate Intelligence) for South Wales Police.

Mr Morris, was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. When he was four the family moved to Roath, Cardiff where they lived until his father joined the RAF, his final posting being at RAF Athan. At the age of 16 years Mr Morris left Llantwit Major Comprehensive and joined the Metropolitan Police Cadet Corps.

From the moment Mr Morris started his career he was determined to provide a professional policing service that addressed individual and community needs regardless of ethnicity, race, religion or gender.

Now 32 years on, he hopes his appointment will show how much the Service has changed and that South Wales Police is committed to working for its diverse communities, strives for equality and fights discrimination and prejudice.

Mr Morris said: “I’m immensely proud to be Wales’ first Asian Black chief officer.

“It shows the determination of Chief Constable Barbara Wilding and the Police Authority to break through barriers and ensure any officer or member of staff regardless of race and background, can achieve based on merit.

“As soon as I started in the Police Service I realised that being a police officer was about making a difference to the people we serve.

“In the early years of my career back in the late 70s, I was subject to racist comments and name calling from other officers and members of the public and witnessed racism towards other minority communities.

“But it made me more determined to stay within the police, to help change things and make a difference. It has been one of my driving ambitions – a vision of a Police Service that serves the needs of all our multicultural diverse ethnic communities building trust and co-operation.

“The service has moved on since I joined. It is very much committed to fighting discrimination ensuring that we engage with and provide a quality service to all our communities.

“By engaging with our communities and building trust can we encourage people from those diverse communities to join the Police Service. When they do we must be ready to support them and encourage them to seek career progression.

“Only when we have minority ethnic officers and staff at all levels of the organisation can we truly reflect the community we serve, strengthening its trust in us.

“The service must be committed to continuing to break through the barriers of discrimination and prejudice, working with our communities to find out what individuals need so we can work towards improving their quality of life.

“To achieve this we need to work with our local authorities, other public agencies, as well as businesses and voluntary organisations.

“Through our neighbourhood policing teams and continuing with the local neighbourhood Pact meetings we can identify what issues are impacting on the quality of life of our local residents, addressing these local priorities and ensuring that we tell our communities what we are doing.

“Through engagement and working with communities we will develop a safe and secure environment for people to live and work and will encourage people to visit Wales.”