Commendation for Gwent
Tuesday, 01 April, 2008
Gwent Police has picked up an accolade at the Excellence Wales Awards for its local collaboration in Public Services.
Excellence Wales is a Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) event, which recognises good practice across a range of public services.
The force received a commendation in the 'Our Council * Collaboration in the Public Services' category for the Community and Neighbourhood Directed Operations (CANDO) initiative. This is a joint operation between Gwent Police, Caerphilly County Borough Council and the Safer Caerphilly Community Safety Partnership.
CANDO is an initiative that works with communities throughout Caerphilly County Borough to identify local solutions to local problems, providing a high visibility presence to tackle the identified issues.
Communities are first consulted on problems in their areas, before an action plan is implemented to address those issues, by utilising the resources from all of the partners.
Past operations have seen efforts to increase awareness of security and crime prevention as well as undertaking graffiti removal, litter-picks, removal of abandoned vehicles, fly-tipping and stray dogs.
Chief Superintendent for C Division, and Chair of the Safer Caerphilly Community Safety Partnership, Alun Thomas, said, "I am delighted that the CANDO initiative has been recognised for the full range of benefits it can bring to the local community.
By identifying the problems that are affecting residents and making a targeted approach of resources to address them, the communities where the CANDOs have been held have seen positive results.
It is a great example of how by working together with our partners, and most importantly, local residents, their quality of life can be improved."
