I WOULD like to start this column by paying tribute to the Chief Constable of Gwent Police, Julian Williams, who has announced his forthcoming retirement.

Julian has been an effective leader during his time at the helm of Gwent Police and has demonstrated his commitment to protecting the most vulnerable people in our communities.

I must say that I will be sorry to see him go at the end of June and wish him all the best for the future.

- Knife crime continues to dominate the news agenda and, although Gwent has one of the lowest levels of recorded knife crime in the UK, I would like to reassure residents that we are not being complacent.

Gwent Police employ a number of methods to tackle the problem, including targeted operations and utilising intelligence-led stop and search powers.

We also continue to work with a range of partners to tackle this issue, and my office has funded projects such as Positive Futures, Urban Circle and the Duffryn Youth Link that offer diversionary activities to help steer young people away from crime. We also fund organisations such as Barnardo’s, Crimestoppers and the St Giles Trust to work with young people directly affected by this issue.

To that end, I was pleased to attend the High Sheriff’s funding awards at the end of March that granted community groups a share of £75,000 for projects that help to build safer, stronger communities.

- Also dominating the news agenda is, of course, Brexit.

Law enforcement is an important part of our work with the European Union and we have real concerns about how these arrangements will continue with the lack of a clear deal. This concern is shared by the National Crime Agency and senior police officers, and all we can do at the moment is to continue to ensure that these concerns are raised at the highest level.

- Finally, this is my first opportunity in a column to express my deepest sympathies with the innocent people that were killed and injured in the terrorist attack in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Hate crime will not be tolerated in Gwent.

It is a horrible, complex offence that can spread fear and suspicion, and divide communities. We must take a stand against it.

We are doing a lot of work with our partners to improve community cohesion and to tackle the problems of radicalisation of whatever nature and hate.

It’s critically important that we take steps to identify those that are in danger of being radicalised and work collectively to alter attitudes. We also need to identify those driving the radicalisation and work together to prevent it.

You can report hate crime to Gwent Police, or if you prefer in confidence to Victim Support on www.reporthate.victimsupport.org.uk or 0300 303 1982. In an emergency, always call 999.