WILTSHIRE'S new assistant chief constable and head of operations, Peter Vaughan, has begun his period of office with a pledge to make community policing one of his key objectives.

Mr Vaughan (41) grew up in south Wales but his grandmother came from Seend, near Devizes.

Her family left Wiltshire in the early 1900s to find work in the Welsh valleys, where they settled.

Mr Vaughan's appointment to police headquarters in Devizes marks the family's return to the area after a century.

He said he intended the public to get the best possible service from Wiltshire Constabulary and he will both maintain and develop "the force's excellent record in terms of its proactive approach to tackling and detecting crime", to ensure Wiltshire maintains it reputation as one of the safest places to live in England.

Mr Vaughan plans to go out with police officers at least once a month and to attend a cross-section of meetings with both the public and the force's partner agencies.

He said: "I intend to be visible and known, both to staff and communities, throughout the county.

"I also want our communities to be dealt with by visible, accessible and knowledgeable officers and police staff, a goal we can achieve by ensuring they have the proper equipment and training to allow them to carry out their duties professionally.

"I believe that 'every contact leaves a trace' and that communication should be positive and not leave people feeling dissatisfied.

"I intend to develop further our commitment to partnership working, thereby making our force area safer still and I also plan to assert even more the positive and proactive stance we take to reducing both drugs misuse and the criminal use of firearms."

Mr Vaughan was born in Aberfan and went to Afon Taf High School and then on to Swansea University.

He is currently completing Cambridge University's diploma in criminology and police management.

Joining South Wales Police in 1984, he went from university to the Rhondda Valley, as a uniformed patrol officer, before moving to Cardiff in 1988, in the same role.

In 1990, he did the accelerated promotion course and was promoted to sergeant and in 1991 to inspector, both roles policing the Cardiff area, which involved duties at the Cardiff City football club and the many events at Cardiff Arms Park.

Between 1992 and 1996, Mr Vaughan worked at Swansea police headquarters and also on the public order and firearms unit at Bridgend.

In 1996, he took up a sub-divisional command role as chief inspector in the Cynon Valley.

One year later, he moved up to a deputy divisional command role at Bridgend, before being promoted to superintendent, head of community safety, a role in which he particularly enjoyed both community and race relations, as well as partnership working, and which also saw the introduction of the Crime and Disorder Act.In 2000, he became head of crime and operations policy unit, with staff officer duties to Sir Anthony Burden during his ACPO presidency for the fuel tax protest.

He was a representative on the government task force, with duties within the Cabinet Office briefing rooms.

A year later saw his promotion to chief superintendent at Rhondda Cynon Taf.

This year, he completed the 2003 Strategic Command Course, joining Wiltshire Constabulary at the beginning of this month.