Tarian ROCU: Telling the story behind the shield
Most people have never heard about the work of Tarian ROCU, but they’ve likely felt its impact. The name Tarian means shield in Welsh, and that’s precisely what they do. Behind the scenes, this specialist task force tackles the most serious and organised forms of crime in South Wales.
Tarian is a Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU) comprising of Dyfed-Powys Police, Gwent Police, and South Wales Police. With over 20 different specialist capabilities and national collaboration with intelligence partners, Tarian tackles the most complex criminal threats: from money laundering and cybercrime to drug trafficking and modern slavery.
Their work is intense, often covert, and rarely seen. Yet its impact is felt across communities: dismantling criminal networks and preventing harm before it reaches our streets.
In 2025, we were commissioned to tell the story of Tarian ROCU through film… not an easy task, given the covert nature of their operations. But through close collaboration with officers, we created a bold, stylised film that reveals the scale, seriousness, and human impact of their work.
Serious and organised crime can often feel like a distant threat; something that happens elsewhere. But listening to the team’s experiences made one thing clear: this work is happening in our communities.
On a day capturing b-roll with the police, the Everglow team followed a drugs raid on a former pharmacy – a powerful reminder that criminality can be hiding in plain sight, right on the high street.
The creative direction was punchy, eye-catching, and designed to communicate the seriousness of Tarian’s work without sensationalising it. We centred the people behind the badge: real officers, doing vital work, often without recognition.
By sharing their story, we wanted to empower the public with knowledge of the ROCU’s work, helping communities heal from organised crime and feel safer knowing that criminality has been removed from their streets. We also hope it encourages future recruits to consider a career in tackling organised crime.
It was a privilege to help make this unseen work visible. Watch the film, share it, and follow Tarian to see how they continue to shield our communities.
We are thrilled with the final product. There is so much incredible police work that goes on outside of the public eye, with our officers and staff risking so much to keep our communities safe. This video captures just some of that and illustrates it beautifully.
