Congratulations to Assistant Chief Constable Grahame Maxwell on being appointed to a top post overseeing day-to-day policing in Bradford and across the rest of the county. It will be quite a challenge.

The police have made good progress recently in the battle against crime. They are doing a creditable job. Various initiatives have produced results, particularly the concentrated campaigns in specific areas.

However, there is still a lot that needs to be done. Mr Maxwell will find that the people of Bradford have high expectations of him and his officers.

They want strong, effective action against drugs, which are such a threat to so many of our young people, and against the gun crime which so often involves the drugs gangs.

They want more action against street crime and more openness about race-related crime in particular to enable the public to better understand the extent of it. They want a crackdown on car crime, which has become a widespread plague.

But most of all, as ever, they want to see a more visible police presence over and above the Community Support Officers, who go a long way to reassure people but have limited powers. And that visibility has to start at the top.

Home Secretary David Blunkett has called for senior policemen to have a high public profile to enable them to become focal points for public reassurance. We look forward to Mr Maxwell becoming a figurehead in the war against Bradford's criminals, someone who can very obviously be seen to have the public's best interests at heart and to be leading from the front.