[3][4] In 1974, with the reorganisation of local government, the force's area was expanded to cover the newly created counties of Mid, South and West Glamorgan.

In 1996, the force adopted its current name and lost the Rhymney Valley area to Gwent Police due to further local government reorganisation.

[2] Of the 3,012 full-time constables as of March 2020[update], 2,057 were male and 956 female, 79 officers identified as being from black and minority ethnic (BAME) groups, representing 2.2% of the workforce.

On conclusion of the longest murder trial in British history, in November 1990 three of the men were found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment.

In December 1992, the convictions were ruled unsafe and quashed by the Court of Appeal after it was decided that the police investigating the murder had acted improperly.

The police claimed that they had done nothing wrong, that the men had been released purely on a technicality of law, and resisted all calls for the case to be reopened.

The evidence obtained in this investigation suggests that South Wales police were faced with a litany of reports about his behaviour, yet in some instances did not carry out even rudimentary investigation, made errors and omissions and missed opportunities to bring him to justice earlier than he ultimately was.South Wales Police Assistant Chief Constable Jeremy Vaughan said his force "entirely accepts and regrets" the findings of the report.

[20][21] The use of facial recognition was met by much criticism, mainly revolving around the high rate of false positives with over 90% of people identified being incorrectly flagged.

[22] The use of the technology at football games was described by the North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones as "disproportionate" adding that its use could lead to miscarriages of justice.

[23] Prof Paul Wiles, the UK biometrics commissioner criticised the lack of government oversight of the technology saying that due to the lack of legal framework governing the technology it is at the police's discretion whether the public benefit exceeds the "significant intrusion into an individual’s privacy" caused by the use of facial recognition.

[25] South Wales Police have also been criticised by civil liberties groups as the technology is more likely to give a false positive if the person being scanned is a woman or an ethnic minority.

"[28][29] In August 2019, South Wales Police announced that they would be trialling the use of facial recognition technology on 50 officers phones for three months, although no update has been given since.

[30][needs update] In October 2021, it was revealed that eight SWP officers had been arrested for sex offences between 2018 and March 2021, the joint-fourth highest of any police force in the UK.

South Wales Police takes allegations of sexual misconduct extremely seriously and will thoroughly investigate those who fail to uphold the highest standards of professional behaviour.

Members of the public and the communities of South Wales should be reassured that the force's Professional Standards Department will fully investigate any complaint or allegation relating to an individual's conduct.

It is this sort of unacceptable behaviour which undermines the trust that the public place in our service as well as the efforts of the overwhelming majority of officers and staff who work hard to keep our communities safe."

[32] On 22 May 2023, teenagers Kyrees Sullivan and Harvey Evans were killed in a road traffic collision after being chased by South Wales Police officers in the estate of Ely near Cardiff.

One of the Cardiff 19 and a known acquaintance were later raided and arrested on June 29 over a video online of her questioning the MP for Pontypridd Alex Davies-Jones over her abstention on a ceasefire vote.

[38] Other instances of actions against those in and around the pro-Palestine movement in South Wales include failure to investigate two people in Swansea for assaulting a nine-year-old boy during a protest.