Three years ago, in the depths of the Covid-19 crisis, I laid out my plans for a second term as Police and Crime Commissioner for this wonderful part of England.

The strategy which sets the strategic direction of Devon & Cornwall Police is technically my plan – and I have a legal obligation to produce it – but in reality it is yours, with the challenges, problems and risks you told me mattered most to you highlighted in four clear priority areas.

We have still so much to do to tackle drugs, antisocial behaviour, dangerous driving and violence in our communities, but I am pleased that police and partners have made such significant progress on these priorities.

What my office and the police have achieved in the term of office, which ends in a few weeks, is laid out in an End of Term Report which I have published on my office’s website. The report is designed to help the public hold me and the force to account for areas of performance where there is room for improvement too.

It lays out some data about crime, and I am pleased that recorded crime rates in Devon and Cornwall remain 2.5 per cent lower than they were four years ago, while nationally they have risen 5.5 per cent.

On violence my office has set up a programme which looks at the long-term causes of violent crime, and commissions work to break the cycle of violent offending that sadly affects too many people. Our force leaders identified violence against women and girls, violence linked to organised crime, knife crime, youth-related violence and violence in the night-time economy as its priorities.

We are fortunate that the nightmare of knife crime which affects other parts of the UK, with tragic consequences for young people and their families, remains less of a threat here than it does elsewhere, but we must guard against complacency.

Of course, violence is inextricably linked with my other priority of drugs, and here real progress has been made under the banner of Operation Scorpion, which on Friday (March 15) completed its seventh iteration. It is a joined-up approach to keeping drugs out of the South West and was created by five Police and Crime Commissioners in the region, supported by their Chief Constables.

The latest round - the seventh - saw more than 250 weapons seized and drugs worth more than £800,000 taken off our streets. I accompanied officers with a drugs dog at Plymouth Railway Station where dozens of stop and searches were carried out one evening. We have made real progress over two years of Operation Scorpion, with the combined effort of our forces safeguarding dozens of young people who were exploited by ruthless dealers. Forces in the region are now among the top for drug disruptions in the country, but the evidence uncovered at the station a fortnight ago tells me more remains to be done.

Road safety is another challenge that requires joined up thinking from multiple agencies – it is why I set up the region’s first true road safety partnership, Vision Zero South West, with acceptance of the principle that even one death or serious injury on our road network is too many.

In the police and crime plan term we have increased ten-fold the number of submissions to the Devon and Cornwall Police dashcam footage submission scheme (Operation Snap), through a Gold Award-winning awareness campaign, launched the Vision Zero South West Road Safety Pledge which allows individuals and businesses to sign up to five simple safety commitments and receive regular information from the partnership and more than doubled the size of the roads policing team.

Education is part of the solution, and there has been a huge effort to promote road safety around the peninsula, but while people are losing loved ones to dangerous driving I make no apology for robust enforcement of the law.

Antisocial behaviour is the fourth priority laid out in the plan, and my End of Term report details how I and the force have worked with local authorities and central Government to bear down on something which affects so many of you. My team have helped secure many millions of pounds for Safer Streets campaigns over the years, and most recently secured money to fund additional patrols in hotspot areas.

Of course, significant police numbers are required to patrol an area the size of Devon and Cornwall and I am pleased to say that as I end my second term officer numbers are higher than they have ever been. I have also invested in reopening 13 police enquiry offices during the period, fulfilling a long-held ambition to reconnect police to the communities they serve, and five more will be opened in the next 12 months.

Of course, none of this would have been possible without the support of our communities through additional contributions to policing via their council tax bills.

If you would like to understand more about the journey we have been on as I seek to deliver on the strategy to create safer, resilient and connected communities please read the full report on my website at www.devonandcornwall-pcc.gov.uk.