While crime is an area which is not devolved, the parties in Wales have developed their own policies to put before the voters.

Below is a comparison of what Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru would do to tackle four key areas of law and order if each was in power.

Labour
Labour said its eight years in government have seen a record number of police officers patrolling the streets of Wales, with 850 more recruited since 1997. Labour has pledged to introduce high-visibility "local policing teams" in every community to try to lessen fear of crime. Labour also said it had reduced paperwork with 7,700 forms now obsolete and promised to reduce bureaucracy further, freeing up thousands more officers by 2008.

Conservatives The Conservatives have pledged to recruit 5,000 new police officers each year across Wales and England. They have also unveiled plans to cut paperwork and introduce elected police commissioners to give communities "a say over police priorities". They would focus on "zero tolerance" measures, adding that freeing police from "unnecessary bureaucracy" would mean more officers would be available to walk the beat.

Liberal Democrats
The party plans to put 500 more police "on top of Labour's plans" on the streets of Wales to cut crime and the fear of crime. The Lib Dems have pledged to abandon "Labour's expensive, illiberal and ineffective ID card scheme" allowing them to pay for the extra officers.

Plaid Cymru
Plaid Cymru has called for control of the criminal justice system and powers over police to be devolved to the Welsh assembly. The party has said more police are needed on the streets of Wales and has proposed reducing the amount of time officers have to spend acting as witnesses in court and cutting bureaucracy by employing more civilians to handle paperwork. Plaid has also said that known "trouble spots" should be targeted using specially-trained officers.

Labour
The party has pledged to "continue to re-balance the criminal justice system in favour of the victim of crime rather than the perpetrators of crime". It has also promised to introduce "tougher sentences" for carrying replica guns, for those involved in serious knife crime and for those convicted of assaulting workers serving the public. It added: "Life will mean life for the worst murderers." The party said non-custodial sentences would be "rigorously adhered to" and that it would renew public confidence by "renewing the emphasis on offenders paying back society for the crime they have committed" through unpaid community work.

Conservatives The Welsh Tories' view is that "prison is necessary". The party has pledged 20,000 extra prison places in England and Wales. It also plans to introduce a policy which will see criminals serving the full sentence handed down by the court. Rehabilitation "will take place behind bars".

Lib Dems
The Welsh Lib Dems have emphasised rehabilitation as part of their crime policy. Non-violent criminals would be required to do "tough community work instead of jail". The party claims that this approach reduces re-offending, gives offenders skills for legitimate work and means that they pay back to the community. "Community justice panels" would be set up to give people more say in the punishment offenders carry out - for example, by making them clean up graffiti or repair damage to victims' property.

Plaid Cymru
Plaid Cymru has called for funding to be targeted at "an effective, rehabilitation-oriented system". According to Plaid, sentencing is "too often out of proportion to the crime committed (with) women in particular often jailed for minor offences where a fine or community sentence would be more appropriate." While focusing on rehabilitation and on expanding community sentences, the party said it recognised that prisons are essential and planned "two new prisons in Wales, one specifically for women and one for north Wales". The party has also pledged a stronger emphasis on rehabilitation in the prison system.

Labour
Labour said the 144 Asbos enforced across Wales since the scheme's introduction had made "a real difference" to communities affected by nuisance behaviour. The party said the introduction of Asbos, together with dispersal orders to move on gangs and on-the-spot fines meant police and local councils had the "power to deal effectively with the problems of anti-social behaviour". Labour said tackling anti-social behaviour would continue to be a priority in a third term.

Conservatives The Conservatives have pledged extra police officers to ensure that those who breach the terms of Asbos are arrested and prosecuted. The party said that anti-social behaviour such as vandalism, graffiti, binge-drinking and threatening behaviour requires "active community policing and a relentless focus on catching, convicting and punishing criminals."

Lib Dems
The Lib Dems in Wales have said they would continue to use Asbos to tackle low-level crime, along with other measures. They said: "Unacceptable noise and offensive behaviour will be tackled with 'acceptable behaviour contracts' agreed between the individual, their family, the police and the local authority." Where people do not co-operate, the party said it would use Asbos, plus "appropriate measures to tackle underlying causes".

Plaid Cymru
Plaid Cymru has pledged an all-agency approach to problems of anti-social behaviour. Plaid said the causes of problems such as vandalism, littering and graffiti should be dealt with by "improvements to the economy, education, housing and social justice, and providing facilities in the community that offer alternatives to criminal or other harmful activities".

Labour
The party said it had introduced powers to clamp down on "the thuggish minority of drinkers" giving police the power to object to licence applications, more powers to close rowdy premises and to impose tougher penalties for selling alcohol to drunks or to children. Labour said the introduction of flexible licensing laws would "help reduce alcohol-related crime when large numbers of customers are on the streets immediately following fixed closing times". Labour has also pledged to introduce "compulsory drug-testing at arrest for all property and drug offenders," with compulsory treatment assessment for those testing positive. Labour added it would invest in more drug rehabilitation services.

Conservatives Welsh Conservative policy is to "break the link between drugs and crime". The party pledged to expand drug treatment programmes and give young users of hard drugs a choice - effective treatment or appearing in court. The Tories have also promised to reverse the reclassification of cannabis, changing it from a Class C to a Class B drug. The party's view on drink-related crime is that "a great deal of disorder is fuelled by excessive drinking, which makes many of our town and city centres dangerous places at night". The Tories have said they will ensure pubs and clubs which sell alcohol to minors or those who are already drunk are closed.

Lib Dems
The Lib Dems' drugs policy would see police effort concentrated on "tackling drug traffickers and those drug users who resort to crime to feed their habits, rather than on criminalising people possessing cannabis only for their own personal use". The party has pledged to crack down on problems related to binge drinking by targeting licensees who serve people alcohol when they are drunk or underage. The Lib Dems have also proposed charging late-night venues for policing costs.

Plaid Cymru
According to Plaid Cymru, the UK government's "30-year war on drugs has failed miserably". Plaid has pledged to tackle social problems that result from drug and alcohol misuse and said rehabilitation programmes were the most effective way of dealing with them. Plaid also said it opposed new licensing laws permitting 24-hour drinking adding that it would place "heavy additional burdens on the police". The party has pledged to enforce current licensing laws, to back legislation holding pub and club owners responsible costs arising from customers' behaviour, stricter controls on how drinks are advertised and compulsory health warnings on alcoholic drinks.