IMPROVING Gwent's detection rate and building on the force's successes is the mission of Gwent's new head of CID.

Detective Chief Superintendent Geoff Ronayne is set to take over from DCS Ray Wise when he retires next week, and Mr Ronayne said the key thing will be to keep up the good work.

Mr Ronayne, 50, said: "Every offence is detectable and it all depends on how much you put into it. We have really benefitted over the past few years from having dedicated teams such as the violent crime team, public protection and the major incident team. The days are gone when you can deal with offenders in one way. We come at them now with every tool in the box.

"We are determined that we are going to reduce crime even further and increase our detection rate even though we have difficult financial crimes ahead."

The father of two joined Gwent Police as a PC in Maindee in 1982 and has worked his way up through every rank in CID to become the department's head.

During his career, Mr Ronayne has been involved in around 20 homicide investigations, including the manslaughter of Tran Nguyen who was dumped at the Royal Gwent Hospital in 2006 after being fatally beaten. He was also part of the team investigating the armed robbery at Halifax building society in Newport in April 2005 during which a security guard was shot and the Gwent search for the murderer of PC Sharon Beshenivsky who was killed during a robbery in Bradford, West Yorkshire, in 2005.

Mr Ronayne is now looking forward to the challenges ahead.

He said: "DCS Wise has been a fantastic leader and he will be a difficult act to follow. None of this isdown to me, it's down to teamwork and I have huge admiration for the people around me who do an exceptional job, often in difficult circumstances."

Mr Wise said: "I'm extremely pleased that we have a Gwent officer in Geoff Ronayne taking over from me as head of CID. I have no doubt that he and the team I leave behind will be successfully maintain the outstanding reputation of the force."