The Chief Constable of Dyfed-Powys Police, Terence Grange, has welcomed the performance of his force following the release of national crime figures.
Total crime fell by seven per cent during 2005/06, while detection rates rose for virtually all offences types and Mr. Grange is in no doubt as to who deserves the credit for this.
"It is down to the magnificent efforts of staff and the support of local communities over the past 12 months that this force has enhanced its position as one of the highest performing in England and Wales. Violent crime has fallen by 7.5 per cent, house burglaries have been slashed by nearly a quarter and vehicle crime is down by a fifth."
To put this in context, national statistics report a one per cent fall in total crime across England and Wales during 2005/06, with violent crime up by two per cent, domestic burglary down by seven per cent and vehicle crime down by three per cent. The figures indicate that the Dyfed-Powys force continues to achieve notable success in both reducing and detecting crimes of all types.
But it is not just crime areas that have seen performance improvements this year. Public satisfaction with the force's services is amongst the highest in the country and sickness rates have fallen significantly for both officers and police staff, improving an already highly efficient and effective force.
"Naturally, operational performance is what matters most to the public, so to see nearly 30 per cent more Class A drug offenders charged in 2005/06 and a 22 per cent fall in fatal and serious road accidents is extremely pleasing," Mr. Grange added.
"In the past, this force has been criticised for the quality of its crime data and more particularly compliance with the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS). However, the most recent review conducted by the Wales Audit Office found that compliance in this Force was 'good' and we intend keeping it that way.
"This is a major step forward from where we found ourselves two years ago and it is to the enormous credit of operational staff and those providing central support that such a step change has been delivered and performance has continued to improve," Mr. Grange emphasised.
Whilst reflecting on a notable year of performance on virtually all fronts, Mr. Grange has highlighted the priorities for the current year and the challenges that lie ahead.
"For 2006/07, the police aauthority has highlighted four priority areas for the force, namely terrorism and domestic extremism, Class A drugs, violent crime and anti-social behaviour.
Whilst the first of these is clearly a national issue, the remaining three very much reflect the views of the public across Dyfed-Powys and we owe it to them to continue performing at the highest possible level."
Other challenges facing the force in the coming year will be the rollout of Neighbourhood Policing Teams, deployment of PCSOs and increased collaborative work between the four Welsh police forces.
"Although the government has signalled that there will be no enforced mergers of police forces in the short term, we see enormous benefits in developing even closer working relationships with our partner forces in Wales. There are things that we may be able to do more effectively together, particularly in relation to the 'protective services' that sparked the whole debate around police force restructuring and we will be looking to actively progress this agenda in the coming months.
"I would like to pay tribute to the hard-work of all of my staff over the past 12 months, something that says much about the ethos of this force. At a time of great uncertainty, we have sought to maintain the highest standards of professionalism and we will continue to do all we can to serve the best interests of the public across our Force area," Mr. Grange concluded.