Household burglaries for 2005/2006 were down by 31.6% in Pembrokeshire. There were or 79 less offences than in 2004/05.

This was achieved through the division's own Bobby Van scheme, which was funded by the local Community Safety partnership. The partnership also funded a local Burglary Reduction Co-ordinator.

Violent crime in our county was also down by 11.4% - there were 257 less violent crimes in Pembrokeshire than in 2004/05.

Violent crime action plans, running for more than 12 months in each policing section within the county, are thought to have contributed to this.

The division also attracted funding through the government's Alcohol Misuse Enforcement Campaign (AMEC), to fund an enforcement and prevention initiative, where officer overtime and resources were targeted towards hotspot areas, and at times when violent offences were most likely to occur.

There were 174 less vehicle crime offences this year - down by 27.8% on 2004/2005.

This was targeted as an important area for crime reduction. An operation focused on the Pembroke Dock area (previously highlighted as a hotspot for this type of criminality), with high-visibility patrols at key locations and at key times, notably when pubs and clubs were closing.

Pembrokeshire is ahead of the Dyfed Powys area as a whole; where violent crime fell by 7.5% and household burglaries by nearly 25%.

In the Dyfed Powys area total crime fell by 7% while detection rates rose for virtually all offences types. Chief Constable of Dyfed-Powys Police, Terence Grange, has welcomed the performance of his force.

“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,” he said.

Mr Grange continued that the performance of the Dyfed Powys force had been one of the highest in England and Wales.

“To put this in context, national statistics report a 1% fall in total crime across England and Wales during 2005/06; with violent crime up by 2%, domestic burglary down by 7% and vehicle crime down by 3%,” he said.

“The figures indicate that the Dyfed-Powys force continues to achieve notable success in both reducing and detecting crimes of all types.

While reflecting on a notable year of performance on virtually all fronts, Mr. Grange also highlighted the priorities for the current year and the challenges that lie ahead.

“For 2006/07, the Police Authority 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,” said Mr Granger.

“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.