Commissioner's update for May

30ain Mai 2013

My Deputy and I have continued to get out and about meeting as many residents of Gwent as possible.

My policing plan has been positively received but my commitment is to ongoing engagement and consultation: to find out what people want from their police service and importantly how they want it delivered.

I have committed to a focus on improved service delivery in Gwent - with officers being accessible; being aware of community concerns; responding to them and importantly, letting them know the outcome so I'm very pleased to have the opportunity to meet and speak face to face with so many residents.

I have had extremely productive meetings with those groups and communities who may well feel as though their voice isn't always heard but have extremely valuable ideas and opinions about how policing is delivered locally.

Following the signing of the Youth Charter last month and my pledge to improve engagement with young people, I met with over 50 people at the Youth Summit in Llanhilleth; I'm looking forward to meeting with them again and updating them on what I've done to progress their ideas and issues.

I also met with the Newport Deaf Club. I spoke to them about my priorities but also listened to their concerns and will meet with them regularly to provide them with feedback.

While I have had a number of meetings with residents and tenants associations throughout Gwent this last month, I was also pleased to have been invited to attend the All Gwent Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinators event to talk about their concerns about local policing, engagement and also to explore increased use and efficiency of neighbourhood watch schemes. I'm looking forward to meeting with them again but also meeting more community groups in Gwent.

I was really pleased to attend the Chief Constable's Awards ceremony earlier in the month and to recognise the efforts of those who make me extremely proud of Gwent Police and to thank those officers, staff and members of the community who make a difference every day.

We saw the appointment of a new Assistant Chief Constable and I look forward to working with her when she starts next month. I held the first public meeting of the Strategy and Performance Board. Its an important meeting as it provides residents with an opportunity to have their questions answered and also, to see how I hold the Chief Constable to account on important matters including effectiveness and efficiency of policing; distribution and level of staffing and resources and also, the identification of community concerns. Why not come along and see for yourself?

We are also seeing the fruits of the awards made through the Police Property Fund - these are funding awards given to Community Groups for projects with a focus on tackling crime and anti social behaviour.

I met with BRfm to see how they are spending their funding and also, Chepstow Street Pastors are putting the award funding to good use. I will be looking forward to meeting other recipients in the coming months to see how the funding is being used to support community led activities. We saw our first month of restorative justice in Gwent which is having a positive impact. Offenders should face the consequences of their actions and to see, first hand, what impact they have had on the day to day lives of their victims.

I look forward to seeing the how the initiative progresses over the months to come. This kind of initiative is another positive step forward in putting victims at the heart of everything we do.

While the majority of my time is spent in Gwent, I also have national responsibilities and I was pleased to attended the Annual Federation Conference in Bournemouth in my capacity as interim chairman of the National Police Negotiating Board.

I'm more than happy to have an opportunity to highlight the expertise we have here in Gwent and the good work of Gwent police officers and staff on a national level.

By the way, I marked my first six months in office on May 15th. Its been an extremely rewarding time and I'm looking forward to the next six months. Why not get in touch and let me know what you think.

If you wish to contact me for any reason, or if you have any comments or suggestions about policing in the Gwent area you can e-mail me: commissioner@gwent.pnn.police.uk, telephone me 01633 642200, fax me 01633 643095 or write to me at the address below:

Ian Johnston,
Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner,
Police Headquarters,
Croesyceiliog,
Cwmbran,
Gwent
NP44 2XJ.

You can also follow my office on Twitter @gwentpcc which provides day to day updates of my work on your behalf, or Facebook.