THE departing chief constable of Dyfed-Powys Police said he believed the force was in “a really, really strong place” compared to when he arrived.

Mark Collins began his role in December, 2016, and is stepping down after more than 30 years of police service.

He reflected on the last four years at a meeting of the Dyfed-Powys police and crime panel, who thanked him for his service.

Mr Collins said his strapline from the outset as chief constable – doing things brilliantly, and getting things right first time – had remained throughout.

He said he’d wanted people to know who he was, to know his name, and for Dyfed-Powys Police to be restored to its “rightful place” in national gradings and rankings.

There had been “some steps forward and steps back” with Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) inspections, but Mr Collins said he expected the outcome of the current inspection “will show tremendous progress”.

“When I took over as chief I would say the workforce was disengaged, the community was disengaged, and partnership working was almost non-existent,” he said.

HMIC had never graded the force above “needs improvement”, he said, while accreditation body Investors in People assessed Dyfed-Powys Police as “upgradeable”.

Mr Collins added that rural sections of the community back in 2016 didn’t feel they were getting a service.

He said the force now had an Investors in People gold award, rural crime teams, a restructured neighbourhood policing service, and a more engaged and satisfied workforce.

He added: “I am proud that under my leadership we have exported two chief constables and one assistant chief constable.

“I think you would agree that if I was a horse trainer, people would regard me as having a good stable.”

Mr Collins said the force had more senior female officers than previously, and that its ethnic minority recruitment was “absolutely first class”.

He said: “I believe we could be the first force in the county to be truly representative of our communities.”

He thanked the panel for supporting him in requests for additional funding, via the police precept, which had helped pay for an additional 100 officers.

A HMIC inspection in 2018 judged Dyfed-Powys Police as “good” for effectiveness and “requires improvement” in efficiency and in legitimacy.

The previous year it was judged “good” for effectiveness and legitimacy and “requires improvement” in efficiency.

A separate inspection of the force’s custody service published in 2018 said progress since the previous one in 2013 had been mixed, although most recommendations had been fully or partially achieved.

Police and crime commissioner Dafydd Llywelyn, who appointed Mr Collins as chief constable in 2016, said he felt there had been significant improvements in Dyfed-Powys Police and its performance. Mr Collins, he said, had done “fantastic work”.

He added: “Mark has been very visible in the force area and a visible leader.”

Panel chairman, Cllr Alun Lloyd Jones, thanked the departing chief constable on behalf of the panel for his work, adding that everyone he spoke to spoke very highly him.

Mr Collins, who started as a special constable in 1987 and has a new police role in the British Virgin Islands, said he believed his replacement, deputy chief constable Claire Parmenter, was the right person to take Dyfed-Powys Police to “the next level”.