IN THE wake of recent misconduct scandals surrounding her force, the chief constable of Gwent Police says she is meeting every new recruit to warn against bad behaviour.

Pam Kelly said: "I meet and I tell them exactly what those expectations are and if matters are disclosed, we will deal with them robustly".

Speaking to a House of Commons committee of Welsh MPs, Ms Kelly also said it was "essential the people know public confidence in policing is really hooked onto [officers'] behaviour".

She vowed to tackle "head-on" any allegations of officer misconduct, such as misogyny, after a spate of scandals involving former and serving officers.

Last year, a Sunday Times investigation alleged family members of a dead Gwent sergeant had uncovered messages on his phone showing inappropriate conversations between him and former colleagues.

The watchdog the IOPC (Independent Office for Police Conduct) is investigating the allegations and announced in the spring it had "served notices on 11 current or former Gwent Police officers to indicate that their conduct is under investigation".

In September last year, after a lengthy hearing behind closed doors, an independent panel found gross misconduct proved against three senior Gwent officers dating back almost three years.

One of the officers announced he would appeal the findings.

In May this year, separate panels decided two former officers would have been sacked for their conduct if they had not already resigned; and last autumn two other Gwent PCs were dismissed for gross misconduct.

Speaking in Westminster on Wednesday, Ms Kelly said her force had been "really hurt" by recent events in Gwent and "across the board in policing".

"The important thing is that we very clear about the standards that we expect for now and the future," she said, adding: "Whatever is happening in society, whenever people are part of policing, the standards of their behaviour must be exceptionally high.

"We are there to enforce the law and therefore, we really do need to be role models, and that's essential."

Ms Kelly said she was encouraged by a recent report which found Gwent Police staff felt able to come forward with any problems, and said she wanted to "create an organisation and a culture [where] people feel really comfortable coming to work".

She vowed to "deal head-on with people who breach that trust - because it's not just trust of colleagues, it's the trust that the public have in us".