lmost a year ago Sir Norman Bettison took up the reins as Chief Constable of West Yorkshire and declared: "Policing has to change."

Twelve months later the changes are becoming apparent and the county's top policeman is clear that they are for the better.

Sir Norman is keen to point out that the public of Bradford is benefiting from a steep reduction in volume crimes, such as house burglaries, thefts of and from vehicles and criminal damage.

"In the last six months there have been 10,000 fewer victims of crime in West Yorkshire than the corresponding period last year, and 3,000 of them were in the Bradford district," he said. "House burglary is now at its lowest level for more than 20 years."

Bradford can trumpet its own successes, with the piloting of Community Justice Courts and a lower level of alcohol-related violence than other cities in West Yorkshire.

But one black cloud hanging over the city - and the rest of the country - is the threat of turf wars amid the continued scourge of illegal street drug trading, and the Chief Constable has strong criticism for the Government on the subject.

Recent disturbances in Bradford Moor and an assault in Barkerend are believed to be linked to a simmering drugs turf war which police are anxious to nip in the bud. Drug rivalries a few years ago in the city led to a series of shootings and killings.

"Drugs are a problem," admitted Sir Norman. "Drugs are the cheapest they have ever been at street level, which says two things - there are more of them about and the issue has simply become ubiquitous, rather than a focus on a particular element in the community.

"We have raided ten cannabis factories in recent weeks. That sends out a real signal that the market for cannabis has never been stronger and cannabis itself has never been stronger.

"It was a mistake for the Government to declassify cannabis because, while it remains an offence to cultivate, supply and distribute it, there has been an ambiguity in society about whether it is an offence to use it.

"Declassification meant the power of arrest was taken away from the police. It took away the opportunity for police to jump on it and I, for one, would encourage the Government, in its current review, to reclassify it as a class B drug."

The Chief Constable said his officers were very familiar with the recent problems in Bradford.

"We know who is involved. There is a difficulty because you enter into turf wars to get people before the courts. There have been arrests and we will be investigating to make further arrests and we will look for the courts to continue what they are doing and sentencing people to significant terms of imprisonment.

"Drug dealers are bringing misery to people with illegal substances and can bring violence on to the streets to corner their share of the market.

"We are on top of it. We are constantly making arrests of people who put their heads above the parapet. We will continue to put them before the courts and hope that they continue to put them away."

Sir Norman has no sympathy for an eminent judge who has suggested that prison overcrowding should be taken into account when sentencing.

"I am very much opposed to that. The law is the law and where jail terms are appropriate those sentences ought to prevail and the question of whether there is a cell to put them in, so they have single cell accommodation, should not be relevant. There should be a further prison building programme to accommodate that. The fact that prisons are full is a measure of police effectiveness."

The police chief is equally keen to see community punishments for certain crimes and he is encouraged by the early success of Bradford's Community Justice Courts, which aim to make offenders pay back their victims by doing unpaid work in their area, and have the power to call them back to court to monitor their progress.

Sir Norman said: "I would like us to do more to find community answers to offending behaviour. Bradford is leading the way with its Community Justice Courts, which have the capability to monitor an offenders' behaviour.

"It's not a question of everybody who commits an offence should be locked up and the key thrown away. It is an ambition of the local Criminal Justice Board to have more Community Justice Courts and that has my encouragement."

The Chief Constable makes no secret of the fact that Neighbourhood Policing is "absolutely dear" to his heart.

"Putting inspector-led teams into the community, building up a relationship with the public, knowing what the priorities are in that area on quality-of-life issues and doing something about it is the shape of policing to come."

To that end he has created more Neighbourhood Policing Teams which will mean extra officers and Police Community Support Officers on the streets of Bradford from the end of January.

"For the people of Bradford it will mean more people on the beat, working on the streets of Bradford, building up a relationship with people living on those streets and able to deal with the causes of problems."

The Chief's push for Neighbourhood Policing will also see changes to police divisional boundaries by the end of January, cutting the divisions from three to two - Bradford South, and Keighley and Bradford North. He emphasised the boundary changes will not mean fewer people on the beat.

"It will mean more on the beat. Having to do the same administration for two places rather than three will free up resources to go back on the beat.

"What it also won't mean is the closure of any police stations. Stations which are open now, and the hours they are open, will be guaranteed."

The Chief has proposed new shorter shift patterns, with less days off, to tie in with the changes, aimed at having more officers on the beat at peak times.

His plans have caused concern among rank and file officers and were narrowly rejected in a vote by Police Federation members.

Sir Norman explained: "When I came to the Force a variation of shift patterns agreed for one particular set of officers had crept into a pattern for everybody. One of the consequences was that Neighbourhood Policing Teams were only working 40 per cent of the time. That was ludicrous and if the man and woman in the street were aware of that, they would have wanted me to do something about it."

He admits that modern policing demands has put pressure on the Force. Nearly 60 per cent of staff recruited to a new regional Counter Terrorism Unit have come from West Yorkshire.

"There is a temporary impact on the Force from that. Clearly we'd like to be using their skills and experience elsewhere. We have not lost them altogether because of a support plan of funding from the Government to meet that cost. We have just as many officers, but we have temporarily lost the skills and experience of those who have moved across."

Sir Norman says anti-social behaviour affects the day-to-day lives of people more than anything else.

"The chances of being a victim of house burglary are now remote and the chances of being a victim of violent crime are even more remote. But walking on the streets of your estate and seeing yobbish behaviour and locking yourself behind your doors at night because you think yobs have taken over the streets is a real cause of concern for us."

But he said Bradford was not the worst location in West Yorkshire for binge drinking, though it would be "ludicrous" to say it was not happening.

He said Bradford should have a detox centre where police or accident and emergency staff could refer or take drunken people.

And he said bar owners ought to contribute to the costs of policing city centre drunks.

"The explosion in bars and clubs serving until up to 7am has caused us to have a bigger police presence in town and city centres. That ought to be paid for out of the profits people are making out of the exploitation of drinkers.

"I don't think relaxing the licensing hours has caused binge drinking, but it hasn't helped."