National Priorities 2007/08

For 2007/08, the Home Secretary set all Police Authorities five priorities, which were outlined in the National Community Safety Plan. The Force’s progress against these is outlined below.

National Priority 1

Reduce overall crime in line with the national PSA target, including by focusing on more serious violent crime, drug related crime and alcohol related crime and disorder

During the course of the financial year, total crime fell by 15% (4,485 offences). Over the same period, more serious violent crime fell by a quarter (68 fewer offences) and the proportion of violent crimes where alcohol was highlighted as a contributory factor was down by a fifth (789 offences). Tackling the supply and production of drugs has been and continues to be a major priority for the Force. In this context, Chief Officers and the Police Authority view an increase in offenders being charged by the police as a positive outcome. Between April 2007 and March 2008, 56 more class Adrug traffickers were charged (a 72% increase on the same period in 2006/2007), there were 3 more offences of class A drug possession and a 30% rise in recorded offences of drug production.

National Priority 2

Enable people to feel safer in their communities by embedding a dedicated, visible, responsive and accountable neighbourhood policing team in every area by April 2008; working in close collaboration with local government and other community safety partners; and reducing the public perception of anti-social behaviour

Dedicated Neighbourhood Policing Teams have been fully rolled out throughout the force, making communities feel safer through the principles of Access, Influence, Intervention and Answers. The number of staff assigned to neighbourhood policing increased markedly during 2007/08. The number of Sergeants designated to neighbourhood policing increased from 28 to 41 and Constables from 87 to 190. The number of PCSOs deployed remained static at 75. The presence of these dedicated staff with geographical responsibility has provided reassurance to our communities though a personal presence, regular contact and activities to market the work of local teams. Every member of the community now has the ability to identify who their local officers are and how to contact them, which is clearly bearing fruit in terms of performance around crime reduction and satisfaction and confidence across the force.

One of the key drivers over the past 12 months has been for us to proactively listen to the views of people across the Dyfed-Powys area and respond to them. This has been achieved through the identification of and communication with hard to reach and hear groups, community meetings, surgeries, surveys, mail drops, force Internet and so on. The aim of the force has consistently been to try and be as responsive as possible to the reasonable demands of local people that are drawn to the attention of our neighbourhood teams. The priorities that we jointly address with partners through this process are fed back to the community so they can see what the issues are their local police are dealing with and what effect our intervention has had. Having identified the priorities and issues most affecting our communities, neighbourhood teams have addressed them through joint problem solving and action planning. The success of these initiatives are then fed back to individuals and the wider community to provide further reassurance that the police are listening and dealing with the things that matter most to them. Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) incidents are discussed within neighbourhood policing forums in conjunction with the ASB co-ordinator, youth service, Housing Associations and other partners. Marketing the service provided by the Police and Community Safety partners in relation to ASB is regularly considered by the Four Counties ASB group. A Multi Agency document "Tackling Anti Social Behaviour" has been developed and contains the Media Strategy for partner agencies. This ensures a common approach of actively promoting a policy of publicising details of Campaigns and use of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) to:

maximise the effectiveness of ASBOs as a deterrent
increase public reassurance

National Priority 3

Continue to bring offences to justice in partnership with other Criminal Justice agencies in line with the Government PSA target through improved performance on sanction detections, especially in relation to more serious crime

Up to the end of January 2008, the Dyfed-Powys Local Criminal Justice Board area was 10% ahead of its target in relation to offences brought to justice against baseline data set in 2001/02. This level of performance is significantly higher than any other area in our most similar forces grouping and is a major contribution to the government’s PSA targets around crime reduction and increasing the number of offences brought to justice. The detection rate for all offences in the force at the end of the financial year was 42.5%, with the rate for more serious violent crime being 62.4%.

National Priority 4

Strengthen public protection by increasing capacity and capability for dealing with widespread threats, and in particular by tackling serious and organised crime

The Force and Authority have invested significantly in areas of public protection over recent years. The most recent inspection in relation to the protection of vulnerable people (encompassing victims of child abuse, domestic abuse and adult abuse) by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary saw the force graded as excellent overall. The national focus on what have been deemed ‘protective services’ has intensified over the past 12 months and in the early part of 2008, the Force undertook a detailed assessment of what it considers to be the ‘high need areas’ for local improvements in relation to protective services. The outcome of that assessment and an outline of the key actions being taken in these specific areas is included within this plan. In terms of tackling the threat posed by serious and organised crime, the force has collaborated closely in the further development of Operation Tarian in partnership with the South Wales and Gwent forces and from April 1st, the establishment of the Welsh Extremism and Counter Terrorism Unit (WECTU). Work has also been brought to a conclusion on the development of a cross Wales Roads Policing Strategy, with Dyfed-Powys Police taking the lead on the element looking at how criminals can be denied the use of our roads.

National Priority 5

Protect the country from both terrorism and domestic extremism

During the course of the year, much attention has been focused on enhancing protection for the key economic sites around the Milford Haven Waterway in Pembrokeshire, particularly the LNG plants at that location. This area is likely to be the focus for significant additional economic development over the next few years and force staff will be working with partners to ensure that it is protected. Work is also ongoing to understand the changing make up of our communities and effectively profile the changes so that we can adapt our policing services appropriately. Neighbourhood policing teams have a key role in this respect in obtaining and recording community intelligence that can be actioned where necessary. This work is not, however, simply about the threat from international terrorists. Attention has also been paid to the potential threat that domestic extremists and campaigners can pose. In this context, the Force was praised for its management of the slaughter of what was felt to be a sacred animal from the Skanda Vale religious community in Carmarthenshire and has had to put in place specific contingencies in relation to a property in the county purchased by The Prince of Wales.