Chief Constable Maria Wallis has revealed there will be changes to the Devon and Cornwall police force in the next 12 months. In her New Year message, she said: 'This year will be a defining period in the force's history and will shape our future, with the Home Office considering our proposals over the national restructuring of police forces. 'Devon and Cornwall Constabulary and the police authority believe that we should remain a standalone strategic force to meet the challenges of policing in the 21st Century, rather than merge with other forces in the South West. 'This view is shared by the communities we serve, police officers, police support staff and specials. 'We are committed to the delivery of local policing and local accountability and, of course, must develop our protective services to deal with situations like the London bombings and counter- terrorism threats. 'Policing is changing and we must build on the opportunities that this creates. Whilst the future remains uncertain, we will continue to provide a high quality service to our communities. 'There will be other significant changes to the police service this year, including new powers of arrest for officers and the new Code of Practice for Victims of Crime, which the force must comply with. 'This year will also see the continued roll-out of the 80 new detectives across the force area to investigate major crime and our 100 new police officers will mean that the force has the largest number of officers in its history – bringing the total to 3,500. 'We are confident that we are well-placed to introduce these changes – and have demonstrated our capacity to adapt to change in the last year, for example, policing the introduction of new hunting and licensing legislation, and rolling out Airwave, the new police digital radio network, to help respond to the needs of communities and further improve staff safety. 'Looking back, the force has demonstrated professionalism and skill in dealing with major incidents on a local, national and international scale during the past year. 'We worked in partnership to carry out a major local rescue operation when people were trapped in their vehicles in the Bodmin area after heavy snowfall and brought the incident to a safe conclusion. 'Nationally, specialist officers from the force supported investigations into the London bombings and we provided call-handling assistance to the Metropolitan Police and helped police the G8 Summit in Edinburgh. 'Forty officers helped in the international operation following the Asian tsunami. 'It is reassuring to know that we live in one of the safest parts of the country and I am very proud of our performance, which re-flects our commitment to local policing and local accountability. Total crime fell by 7.2 per cent for the first six months of the force performance year to the end of September 2005, according to our recorded crime figures. 'We have the seventh lowest crime rate per thousand head of population in the country and the force was also among the top ten in the country for crime detection in 2004/05, with 30 per cent of total crime detected, compared to 26 per cent nationally. 'A number of serious crimes have been successfully investigated. 'The force was also praised for its excellence in customer service – retaining the Government's prestigious Charter Mark award for the third year running – including recognition of our investment in a new language-interpreting service to enable us to better communicate to the public in 150 languages. 'These successes have been achieved thanks to police officers, support staff, local communities, partnership agencies and key stakeholders. 'I am proud to be Chief Constable and look forward to continuing to serve the people of Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly over the next year – my best wishes to you all for a happy, safe and prosperous New Year.'