We are pleased to present the Local Policing Plan for 2004-05, which sets out the Police Authority's expectations of the Force for the year ahead.

We believe that the public of Gwent has one of the best police forces in the country and pride ourselves on the excellent performance of our officers and staff. That having been said, there can be no room for complacency. Continuing to work together in a constructive yet challenging way, it is our intention to build on our success in tackling crime and improving the quality of life of the people residing and working within our Force area.

In spite of the exemplary results we have achieved, our public consultation process has revealed that the communities we serve would like to see a re-emphasis on high visibility policing. Over the coming year, therefore, we will refocus our energies on providing a more citizen focused style of policing with an emphasis on providing public reassurance.

To this end, we are implementing a style of policing centred on the local authority wards that make up our communities.

By providing a dedicated officer who will work in partnership with the public and other agencies within those wards, identifying and solving the problems of their communities, we will re-build some of the community links that may have necessarily been neglected in the drive to meet performance targets.

Visibility on our streets has been further enhanced by the increase in Police Community Support Officers (PCSO's) who provide high visibility / high profile patrol throughout the force area. The fifty PCSO's are a very welcome addition to the wider police family and complement the work of police officers and special constables, focussing on low-level crime, anti-social and nuisance behaviour.

Our aim is to make Gwent the safest place to live, work and visit. Working together in partnership, we share an ambition to ensure the continued delivery of high quality policing to the communities of Gwent together with and a commitment to providing the public reassurance policing demanded by the people we serve. This commitment is underlined by our expectation that we continue to be amongst the best performing forces in England and Wales. This Plan is an important step towards the achievement of this expectation.