CRIMES of violence and sexual offences were among the 3,000-plus reported crimes not recorded by Dyfed-Powys Police every year in the past four.

HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMICFRS) found there was an estimated failure to properly record more than 3,300 reported crimes every year since 2014.

This represents more than 12 per cent of total crime in the force area; including sexual offences, public order and violence.

Crimes not recorded, said the report, included 1,500 violent crime per year, 70 reports of sex offences a year, 66 out of 283 domestic abuse cases, and seven vulnerable victim cases.

The report states that Dyfed-Powys Police had made improvements in recent years but there were still failings.

Dyfed-Powys had made a "concerted effort" to record crime more accurately since the last report in 2014.

Particular praise went to dealing with more complicated crimes like modern slavery and sexual offences.

A "cause of concern" was the recording rate for violent crime at 84.4 per cent.

The report states: “Dyfed-Powys Police is failing to ensure it records all violent crimes (in particular domestic abuse) reported to it. In most cases where the force fails to record domestic abuse crimes, officers and staff do not complete domestic abuse, stalking and harassment (DASH) assessments. There is also limited supervision to correct these recording decisions at the earliest opportunity.

The inspection suggested that officers and staff not understanding the crime-recording rules led to the failures, made worse by limited supervision to correct these decisions as soon as possible.

It concluded: “Dyfed-Powys Police has improved its crime-recording processes since 2014. However, it still needs to improve.

“We welcome its strong leadership and the positive approach among most officers and staff toward victims. However, the force needs to further improve its crime-recording processes. It should also make sure that its staff and officers fully understand the crime-recording standards expected of them, and that it supervises these standards effectively.

“We note that after our audit, the force immediately acted to make sure that every missed crime we found was retrospectively recorded and assessed for investigation. The force also began work to find out how it could further improve its crime recording. We welcome this and will continue to monitor progress.”

Dyfed-Powys Police, in response, has said it records 93 percent of sexual offences that are reported to it.

Temporary Deputy Chief Constable Richard Lewis said: “The report recognises the good progress made by the force and the unequivocal desire to support victims of crime.

“There has been a programme of improvements to the way that crime is recorded, which is ongoing and is overseen by chief officers.

“This has already identified areas of good practice, recognised by HMICFRS and further steps have been taken since the inspection to improve the recording of domestic abuse through increased supervision and revision of processes.”