Tag: PCDA

Check out the ‘World’s most Dangerous Prisoners’ on 5Action tonight

Author Paul Williamson | Posted on

Last year, I was invited to contribute to the series ‘World’s Most Dangerous Prisoners’ which looks at offenders whose shocking crimes earned them a whole-life tariff behind bars. Tonight’s episode focuses on Joanna Dennehy who fits the generally accepted definition of a serial killer having committed three calculated and brutal murders with a ‘cooling off’ period between the killings (Farrell, Keppel and Titterington, 2011). Having developed a taste for killing, Dennehy then attempted to murder two random strangers.

Women who commit serial killings are rare and research into victim relationships and motivations lags male offenders (Farrell, Keppel and Titterington, 2011). My aim in this blog is to reflect on my involvement in this infamous case and briefly highlight some of the keys to success as well as exploring why Dennehy will never be released from a life behind bars.

The Investigation

This major Investigation began on Saturday 30 March 2013 after Cambridgeshire Police discovered the body of a man who had been reported missing. The body had been staged in what could be considered an act of humiliation. A murder investigation was commenced, led by a Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) Martin Brunning of the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, and Hertfordshire Major Crime Collaboration Unit. Unknown to Martin at that time, Dennehy had already killed two other men.

By this time, Dennehy and her accomplice Gary Stretch were already on the run. On 2 April both made their way to Hereford in the West Mercia Force area where Dennehy told Stretch that she wanted to kill again: “I want my fun… I need you to get my fun” (Cawley, 2014). Dennehy specifically requested that Stretch find male victims, not women or children. Stretch then drove around Hereford where Dennehy stabbed two men out walking their dogs in random separate attacks within 20-minutes of each other. Both men were callously attacked from behind and the injuries inflicted were horrific. In the second attack alone, the victim suffered 30 stab wounds. Miraculously both survived despite suffering near fatal injuries and I was appointed as the SIO for this investigation.  

Success factors and the crucial role of First Responders

We teach our UWE Police apprentices that the key to success for investigations largely lies in ‘making the right decisions, taking the right action and securing evidence’ (Cook and Tattersall, 2014, p. 64) by following the ‘golden hours’ principle. You often only get one chance to get things right.

For many of the response officers involved, this will have been one of the most important incidents they will have dealt with in their careers. Through their rapid and professional response, Dennehy was captured near to the scene of the second attack in Hereford in what was a dramatic moment for the investigation. Stretch was also quickly arrested some miles away following an extensive manhunt. I firmly believe that the actions of the responding officers prevented further attacks. What they did was get the building block principles, including:

  • The priority and fast response to protect life.
  • Preservation of the two attack scenes north and south of the river Wye which dissects the city.
  • Securing evidence and initial accounts from victims and key witnesses.
  • Identification of the victims.
  • The first victim was able to describe their attacker as a woman with a distinctive star tattoo on her face and Dennehy was identified as the prime suspect. An area search quickly resulted in her arrest and recovery of Archie the dog stolen from the second Hereford attack victim. The significant statement made by Dennehy admitting to killing ‘him’ was recorded.
  • The arresting officers also recovered other key evidence including a blood-stained knife and clothing. A search of the vehicle resulted in the seizure of a camera bizarrely containing photos taken by Dennehy and Stretch in the days leading up to the attacks.

It was only on the day following her arrest that the true extent of her killing spree became apparent with the discovery of two further murder victims in Cambridgeshire. In common with research on female serial killers, all the Cambridgeshire victims were known to Dennehy (Hickey, 2015) and were stabbed to death and callously dumped in ditches in what came to be known as the ‘Peterborough Ditch’ murders. By contrast, a distinguishing feature of the Hereford attacks were that they were committed on strangers with no apparent motive. Dennehy had clearly developed a ‘moreish’ taste to kill (Judiciary of England and Wales, 2014, p.18).

Teamwork

It was agreed that I would take primacy for the joint investigation due to having the greatest chance of successfully resolving the case. In the glare of significant public, media, and organisational attention, the pace of investigation was intense and effective cross border working between forces was essential. Both Martin and I worked hard in these initial stages to find practical solutions to the problems and challenges that arose. The joint working between our teams and effective sharing of information enabled us to maximise evidence gathering. As the pace slowed and primacy for the joint investigation passed over to Martin and his team, we formalised this joint working in a Memorandum of Understanding which was crucial in maintaining focus on the main lines of enquiry and building a successful prosecution case.  The professionalism in handling of the case later drew significant organisational and media praise (Knight, 2014) which the whole team was proud of.  

Sentencing a serial killer

Dennehy was convicted of the three murders and two attempted murders in February 2014. She was the first woman sentenced by a Judge to serve a whole-life term (Judiciary of England and Wales, 2014). In 2023, Lucy Letby became the second female serial killer sentenced by a Judge to a whole life term (Thomas, 2023). The only two other women in English criminal history to be assessed as so dangerous never to be released were Myra Hindley and Rosemary West who instead were ordered not to be released by the then Home Secretary.

Dennehy was not a sophisticated criminal who was used to concealing evidence and actions from the police. Dennehy’s actions were however, shocking not only for their brutality, but also because female serial killers are relatively rare, only accounting for 15% (Farrell, Keppell and Titterington, 2011). This rarity, combined with the extreme violence of Dennehy’s crimes, has contributed to her notoriety and the international media attention surrounding her case.

As well as having a professional interest in crime investigation, I also have an academic interest in the theories and principles central to criminology and criminal psychology having competed a MSc in this subject. Before the Dennehy case I remember one of my assignments being titled ‘Do real psychopaths exist’. We do not have the time to go in-depth on this, but it is interesting to compare the Dennehy case with some psychopathy traits:

  • The interpersonal traits of a psychopath include ‘superficial charm…and the manipulation of others’ (FBI, 2005). Dennehy clearly exercised control and manipulation over men in her life.  Dennehy also sought to regain control at trial by pleading guilty to the surprise of her Defence team (Cawley, 2014). The Judge in sentencing Dennehy commented that she was a ‘…manipulative serial killer’ (Judiciary of England and Wales, 2014, p.1).  
  • Sentencing comments also showed how the murders involved ‘sexual and sadistic conduct’ and that Dennehy saw the killings as a kind of fetish. Research indicates that ‘violence and sexual gratification are inexplicably intertwined’ in serial killers’ motivations (FBI, 2005).
  • Another psychopathy trait is lack of remorse or guilt. Mr Justice Spencer made it clear that Dennehy had ‘shown no genuine remorse’ (Judiciary of England and Wales, 2014, p.18).
  • Research also shows that psychopaths ‘are extremely callous in their interactions with their victims’ (FBI, 2015). The surviving victims of the Hereford attacks both recounted how Dennehy was so cold, cruel, and calculated, showing no emotion other than wanting to stab them some more (Cawley, 2014).
  • Another common trait is sensation seeking (FBI, 2005). Dennehy was said to have revelled in the notoriety of being Britain’s most wanted person and whilst on the run, compared herself and Stretch to the US robbers Bonnie and Clyde (Cawley, 2014).

These traits along with the heinous nature of her crimes explain why Joanna Dennehy will never be set free. You can find out more about the Dennehy case by watching the ‘World’s most Dangerous Prisoners’ on 5Action at 9pm tonight. It is available to watch on SKY (current channel 150) Virgin (current channel 130) and Freeview (current channel 33), and Channel 5 on demand service My5.

References

Cawley, L. (2014) Joanne Dennehy: The woman who murdered men ‘for fun’. BBC [online] 12 February 2014. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-25669206 [Accessed 22 January 2024].

Cook and Tattersall (2014). Blackstone’s Senior Investigating Officers’ Handbook (3rd Ed.) Oxford University Press. 

Farrell, A. L., Keppel, R. D., & Titterington, V. B. (2011). Lethal Ladies: Revisiting What We Know About Female Serial Murderers. Homicide Studies, 15(3), pp. 228–252. [Accessed 22 January 2024].

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) (2005) Serial Murder: Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives for Investigators. Behavioural Analysis Unit National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime. Available from: https://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/serial-murder [Accessed 22 January 2024].

Hickey. (2015). Serial Murderers and Their Victims (7th edition.). Cengage Learning.

Judiciary of England and Wales (2014). The Queen ‐v‐ Joanne Christine Dennehy   Gary John Stretch   Leslie Paul Layton  Robert James Moore In the Crown Court at Cambridge sitting at the Central Criminal Court 28 February 2014 Sentencing remarks of Mr Justice Spencer. Available from: https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/JCO/Documents/Judgments/the-queen-v-dennehy-sentencing-remarks-28022014.pdf [Accessed 22 January 2024].

Knight, A. (2014) Top Cops praised for serial killer snare. Hereford Times [online] 29 October 2014. Available from: https://www.herefordtimes.com/news/11566002.top-cops-praised-for-serial-killer-snare/ [Accessed 22 January 2024.

Thomas, T. (2023) Lucy Letby sentenced to whole-life jail term after murdering seven babies. The Guardian [online] 21 August 2023. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/live/2023/aug/21/lucy-letby-sentencing-hearing-life-sentence-updates [Accessed 22 January 2023].

Editorial Team

Paul Williamson (Editor-in-Chief); Claudia McCready (Lecturer); Eve Smietanko (Joint Programme Leader & Senior Lecturer); Ian Lowe (Senior Lecturer) & Micah Hassell (Senior Lecturer).

If you would like to contribute as a guest blogger, please contact Police.Blog@uwe.ac.uk

What’s your excuse?

Author claudiamccready | Posted on

This week’s blog is written by Senior Lecturer Micah Hassell, part of the UWE Bristol Policing Team. Micah has written a snapshot of his impressive career within Policing, so I won’t waste words repeating it. Part of that varied career includes time specialising on the Roads Policing Unit (RPU), where he dealt with serious and fatal road traffic collisions. Most of us have either been in an accident ourselves, or know of those that have been unfortunate enough to experience them.

2021 saw a 23% increase in deaths or serious injuries from accidents involving alcohol from the year before (ONS, 2023). In the same year, Avon and Somerset stated that alcohol was a factor in 1/3 of all their road traffic collisions (ASC, 2023). Each year local police forces run anti-drink and drug drive operations, educating and stopping drivers within their areas.

This festive period offers a poignant moment to consider the risks associated with driving under the influence, the impacts is has on loved ones and the services that attend to help. Over to Micah…

Image of Senior Lecturer, Micah Hassell wearing graduation robe and colours.

After starting a new role in May 2023 as a senior lecturer within the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship programme, I have been given a fantastic opportunity to deliver a programme of learning to newly appointed police officers to ensure their operational competence meets the highest standards expected within Policing (College of Policing, 2014). My core interests in policing extend to Police ethics and the causes of corruption after serving the latter part of my career within the Professional Standard Department, but some of the most interesting and demanding responsibilities I have experienced were related to road death and its causation whilst performing the role of senior investigating officer with the Roads Policing department.  As an ex Chief Inspector with 27 years operational Policing experience, I have investigated more than 120 collisions where a death has occurred and in 80% of those incidents’ intoxication has featured as a contributing factor to the cause of death.  Although this is somewhat of a grim topic of discussion, I wanted to bring into focus the impact drink driving has, to prompt a discussion about your thoughts and behaviours when it comes to making that decision about drinking and driving.

Lived experience

One of my last fatal road traffic investigations occurred during the summer months just after midnight where a single vehicle carrying four occupants collided head on with a lamppost. On my arrival I was confronted with an horrific scene. The driver had been ejected out of the vehicle and came to rest some distance in front of the vehicle and had tragically died from her injures. The front seat passenger was deceased, and two rear passengers were seriously injured. One rear passenger died at the scene and the final passenger made it to the hospital before sadly passing away hours later.  Almost immediately a strong smell of alcohol emanated from within the vehicle and those involved at the scene. I vividly remember that the speedometer on the vehicle had frozen at the point of impact and rested at exactly 31 miles per hour.  During my investigation it transpired from witnesses that the four friends had decided to take a risk because they wanted to travel to another local pub approximately 2 miles away. Unfortunately, they never made it, and their lives were taken forever leaving families, police officers and communities with questions to this day about the decisions they all made on that tragic night.

Why?

Did you know that in the past year one of your friends, relatives or work colleagues will drink and drive and could even be over the legal limit today? You might have even drank last night feeling worse for wear this morning, but drove into work unsure of whether you were actually over the prescribed legal limit, or you could have car shared knowing the person driving was feeling pretty poorly from the night before.  The reasons why people decide to drink and drive are complex, but more often than not the decision to use your car after drinking alcohol is done so with very little thought about the potential consequences that could occur. Government Statistics provide a comprehensive picture about the numbers killed or seriously injured on our roads within the UK…  

In 2021 alone, over 27,000 people were killed or seriously injured on our roads. 

In 2020, Police conducted over 46,000 roadside breath tests. Over 2,500 people failed these .

Department for Transport, 2022.

Alcohol as a factor

Qualitative research undertaken by Keatley et al, (2020) examined the reasons why people decide to drink and drive. After interviewing 83 participants between 18 and 64 years of age they identified five key themes that influenced their decision to drive after consuming alcohol. Unexpected reasons to leave the pub, peer pressure, only a short drive to the next destination, having an appointment they needed to be at and finally the effects of alcohol affected their judgement where they knew they should not drive, but carried on regardless. Most, if not all of us know about the effects of alcohol, but there are concerning gaps in a person’s ability to understand how much alcohol can be consumed or what strength of alcohol is contained within their drink.  In each case recognising what their chosen drink contains remains a mystery and, in many cases, presents a misunderstanding about what people can tolerate. In a study conducted by Walker et al, (2016), 209 University students were asked to rank in order of alcohol strength 10 alcoholic drinks. Their research highlighted that people could not judge the strength of alcohol within an alcoholic drink, but instead chose their selected drink preferring to use taste instead. The more appealing the taste the more likely a person would choose to drink it rather than consider the strength of alcohol.  This disparity highlighted the need to ensure more people should take a greater interest in the alcohol content of their preferred drink. There are also other studies undertaken by Stephens et al, (2017) that indicate people who worked full time or worked from home between 26 and 39 years old with  “High Risk consumption patterns”  are more likely to drink and drive, but also have a reduced perception about the risk of having a collision after consuming drink.

There are other causation factors that will always feature within any collision, but my lived experience has shown that alcohol contributes to the death of a high proportion of people who are involved in collisions. The example I provided at the beginning detailed the death of four friends travelling at the legal speed limit within 10 minutes of leaving a local pub, attempting to travel to another local pub a short distance away. You can see from this article that high risk drinking behaviours, having limited awareness of how strong your alcoholic drink is and only driving a short distance away all feature as contributing factors to causing road death. So before you decide to drink and drive think about the consequences of your actions and what excuse you are going to make before you get into the car!

Final reflections & the PCDA

Light bulb graphic with cog inside - reflection

The work of the PCDA team is extremely important. Within the operational competencies modules drink driving is taught throughout all three years. Legislation and exploring key prevention and detection strategies are all included.  Working alongside Avon and Somerset Police UWE’s 2030 Strategy provides an inclusive programme designed to solve the future challenges policing faces. It focusses on student development using some of the most experienced police officers and staff to support them; using some of the best facilities throughout the region and beyond. The reason I chose to apply for a job within UWE was because it not only boasted one of the best programmes in the country, it also centred their interests around my own teaching practice and development. It’s been a fantastic transition from policing into higher education. There are always opportunities for staff and students to be part of the PCDA journey where most modules run practical sessions to develop students offices as they progress through their degree if you want to get involved you can contact me or any of the PCDA team here.

Helpful Resources

Keatley, D. A. et al. (2020) Perceptions of drink driving legal limits in England: a qualitative investigation. Psychology, crime & law. [Online] 26 (8), 733–744. [Accessed 6 July 2023]

Stephens, A. N. et al. (2017) Alcohol consumption patterns and attitudes toward drink-drive behaviours and road safety enforcement strategies. Accident analysis and prevention. [Online] 98241–251. [Accessed July 2023]

Walker, S. et al. (2016) Estimates of the Absolute and Relative Strengths of Diverse Alcoholic Drinks by Young People. Substance use & misuse. [Online] 51 (13), 1781–1789. [Accessed 10 July 2020]

Editorial Team

Image of a paper plane to mean 'email' or 'send'

Paul Williamson (Joint Programme Leader & Senior Lecturer); Claudia McCready (Lecturer); Eve Middleton (Tripartite Assessor – Policing); Eve Smietanko (Joint Programme Leader & Senior Lecturer); Ian Lowe (Senior Lecturer) & Micah Hassell (Senior Lecturer).

If you would like to contribute as a guest blogger, please contact Police.Blog@uwe.ac.uk

Becoming An Evidence-based Police Practitioner

Author Paul Williamson | Posted on

This week’s blog is written by UWE Bristol Policing programme Senior Lecturer Gary Stephens. Gary served in Avon & Somerset Police as a Detective Chief Inspector prior to joining UWE Bristol where he is the module leader for ‘Becoming an Evidence-based Police Practitioner’ on the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship (PCDA).

There is general consensus that Evidence-based Policing (EBP) is the development of knowledge, which is shared to inform operational practice. Working together with Avon & Somerset Police we seek to blend the best of policing craft with the science of ‘what works’. This is important because traditional models of policing no longer appear to provide the answers to a lot of current and future policing problems. Having recently attended the Society of Evidence Based Policing (SEBP) annual conference, Gary reflects on the key learning from this event.

Society of Evidence Based Policing (SEBP) annual conference

Over the 9 – 10 November, the SEBP held their annual conference at the College of Policing in Ryton. The SEBP are insiders, they are predominantly police officers with day jobs who are committed to nurturing change from within their organisation by developing knowledge, practice and performance utilising Evidence Based Policing.

Attending the conference were UWE policing staff Associate Director Dr Anne Eason along with Senior Lecturer Gary Stephens. Amongst the over 130 other candidates were representatives from forces and organisations from around the country, and internationally, including Inspector Alecto Shyne and PS Sue Coates from the Avon and Somerset Inspection and Evidence Based Policing Team.

The title of the conference was:

The importance of focus: How can evidence based policing drive precision policing?

The conference was opened by the SEBP Chair T/Chief Constable Alex Murray of West Mercia Police who introduced the variety of speakers delivering presentations over the two days. A consistent theme was the importance of modern policing being data led and optimising the principle of ‘what works’.

The College of Policing are at the forefront in using evidence led policing and Director of Knowledge and Innovation Rachel Tuffin outlined recent developments, most notably the practice bank, which complements the longer standing Crime Reduction Toolkit. The practice bank shares crime prevention and community safety best practice initiatives developed across the country to assist officers in their own local problem solving.

Speakers spoke of subjects ranging from crime satisfaction, focused deterrence to using vetting data to understand the more prevalent characteristics of those who go onto be subject of gross misconduct proceedings. Whilst there was a wide range of speakers there was one consistent theme, the importance of using data to produce a deeper understanding of what works and to utilise this as evidence to inform practice.

So what did we take specifically from the two days?

The material from all speakers was valuable but what we found most interesting is how EBP is constantly developing and how we can all contribute to it. For example, we now know that, under certain conditions, hot spots policing works. One of these conditions is optimising the time officers (or PCSOs) are present in a given hot spot (The Koper curve theory). However, a study in Leicester based on hot spot patrolling areas of potential disorder has developed this principle further. In partnership with the Youth Endowment Fund youth outreach workers were employed to be in hot spot areas and engage with youths to prevent disorder. During this time they sought to engage those youths in diversionary interventions, something EBP tells us works. But to follow Koper’s 12-16 minute rule would not enable them to engage, so the patrols were extended, often in excess of 50 minutes, which allowed them to nurture conversations and engage with potential offenders.

The conference was closed by Professor Lawrence Sherman, the leading architect and proponent of EBP who outlined the need to move from the 3R’s (random patrol, rapid response, reactive investigation) toward the 3Ts (targeting, testing and tracking). As well as reflecting on where EBP was and where it is now he outlined his vision of the next steps for it. As Chief Scientific Officer for the Metropolitan Police he took an active role in an initiative that was recently launched to target the serious amount of violent harm against women and girls in London. With limited resources the police must focus their resources on those who present the most harm. A top 100 list, ‘the power few concentration’ was produced. Having identified the top 100, a key tactic used was application for Sexual Risk Orders. If the application is successful, this order places stringent conditions on subjects. In the short time since this initiative has been running an impressive 85% reduction in offending has been identified.

Professor Sherman suggested that future steps for EBP could be in adopting these principles of ranking and stacking relative risk, and further utilising the principle of the 3T’s, in categories such as repeat burglary, ASB 999 calls, police misconduct and others. If adopted this could lead to what he described as not doing more with less, somewhere policing has found itself in recent years, but doing less with more.

What can you do?  

  • Join the SEBP, it’s easy, just go online and join. You will receive regular e mails of evidence-led studies and initiatives and you will have access to all resources.
  • Look out for the posters around campus with QR codes you can click on to provide direct access to the practice bank amongst other resources.
  • Be that evidence led practitioner – it works! As a practitioner guided by evidence, integrate its effectiveness seamlessly into your daily operations for your specific purposes. Embrace the principles, customise them to your context, and employ them to focus on your objectives. Shift from perceiving it as an abstract concept; it’s increasingly becoming standard practice, and we need to fully harness the principles of EBP in contemporary law enforcement.

Editorial Team

Paul Williamson (Joint Programme Leader & Senior Lecturer); Claudia McCready (Lecturer); Eve Middleton (Tripartite Assessor – Policing); Eve Smietanko (Joint Programme Leader & Senior Lecturer); Ian Lowe (Senior Lecturer) & Micah Hassell (Senior Lecturer).

If you would like to contribute as a guest blogger, please contact Police.Blog@uwe.ac.uk

Guest blog by Tom Andrews: Reflections on the Degree Entry Route into Policing

Author Paul Williamson | Posted on

Introduction

In the ever-evolving landscape of police education, it is crucial for policing professionals, academics, and aspiring officers to gain a deeper understanding of the current and emergent trends.

This year, I had the privilege of meeting Tom at the Policing Education Conference at Liverpool John Moores University and he graciously agreed to contribute a blog post for UWE Bristol. Tom is a lecturer in Policing at Derby University and in this blog shares a personal perspective on his own educational and professional journey which offers a valuable reflection on the past, present, and future of police education.

As we navigate the shifting landscape of the Police Constable Entry Routes and new ‘optimisation curriculum’ it is imperative to consider the significance of continuous learning and how education can empower police officers to make a meaningful difference in their communities.

Tom’s blog provides a thought-provoking insight and valuable lessons for both those entering the profession and experienced officers seeking to enhance their skills and knowledge through the ‘Top Up’ degree at UWE Bristol (featured in a recent blog). It is a testament to the importance of building bridges between academia and the real world of policing, creating a network of professionals dedicated to advancing the field through education and innovation.

Over to Tom…

Tom’s reflections

I’m honoured to have been asked to complete this guest contribution to the UWE Policing Blog, after chatting with several of the excellent lecturers there. I’ve written quite a bit on both PoliceProfessional and PolicingInsight around my thoughts of the Police Entry Qualifications Framework (PEQF) aka the degree entry routes into policing. I wanted on here to do something different, and to share my own journey with those entering or undertaking the current entry routes, with my reflections. Like any good reflection, I will be framing this around a recognised model, and my personal favourite is Rolfe et al.’s (2001) model, both for its simplicity and requirement to look forward.

Tom Andrews – Lecturer in Policing at the University of Derby.

What?

I joined the police in 2008 (with a pre-existing degree in History) under an IPLDP+ scheme, during which I undertook the majority of my training at my force headquarters, but attended a local further education (FE) college once or twice a week in uniform but with no PPE or radio etc. There we would learn the more theoretical side of policing such a criminology, while we learned the legislation and policy aspects at force training school. Looking back, the learning delivered by the professional educators was by-and-large far more engaging than that delivered by training school; where the legislation was simply learnt by wrote. I even vividly remember (in the very early days of social media!) making comment about the boring training school aspect on Facebook, and receiving suitable words of advice from the training school sergeant…

After the initial six months classroom-based (force and college) learning, we would regularly return every three months or so for a week’s additional input from the college. During these weeks we were set essay and presentation assignments to write in our own time (no protected study leave at all). We also had a SOLAP to complete (FOC’s in today’s terms), where we had to write all the reports ourselves. No doubt this method of learning sounds very familiar to those of you reading this! That is a key reason why I am particularly vocal about maintaining the current routes, as they don’t represent a radical departure from some of the old ones!

I ‘graduated’ training with a Foundation Degree in Policing (at level 5, equivalent to finishing two years of university); with an option to pay for a further year’s study at our own expense, to complete a full degree in Criminology and Policing. (I didn’t take this up as I had a degree already and didn’t have the money to pay.)

So What?

At the time of my initial learning (I specifically don’t use the term training, as the FE college input took it beyond that into education / learning) and for long after, I simply couldn’t see the value or purpose of the FE input at all. I spent five years on response, where indeed the need for that wider knowledge around criminology and crime prevention was very limited. This was even more true at that time at the height of target-driven policing based around arrests and detections – at most it may have helped me classify some D&D’s as Section 5’s to gain a bonus detection.

It was when I applied for a job on neighbourhoods that some of my previous learning came from the dark recesses at the back of my head. Vague rumblings about a triangle for problem analysis, stemming from a problem-solving model with a girls name – yes, you guessed it, SARA and PAT! I dug out my old lecture notes (yes, I’d kept them in my loft, I know…) and brushed up on various aspects of criminology and crime prevention that might be useful for neighbourhood policing. I beat a field of several candidates at interview to land the job, and it was here, using my regained knowledge of criminology and specifically problem-solving, that I can honestly reflect on and state confidently, was where I had the most impact on society during my career. I didn’t just rush to jobs and put sticking plasters on situations as I had on response. I actually not only identified, but solved problems that were causing real issues to my local community.

My two most notable examples are using brand new powers (for 2014) under the Antisocial Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 to issue Community Protection Notices to a local Urban Street Gang who were continually loitering on one street creating misery for the residents, and thereafter never seeing them again. Secondly, using the same pioneering powers, combined with obscure sections of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and crucially partnership working powers with Trading Standards, to execute warrants and seize and ultimately destroy tens of thousands of pounds worth of so-called ‘legal highs’ or new psychoactive substances; several years before they were made illegal. This latter operation saw me gain attention from police forces nationwide, and had the College of Policing’s ‘What Works’ centre or Going Equipped journal existed at this time, would have been written up on there. Neither of these I believe would have been possible without use of SARA and PAT, and the associated learning around multi-agency working I had undertaken at college.

Now What?

For various reasons I left the police in October 2020 as a sergeant on response. I loved the role, having responsibility for supervising other officers and making decisions. The part I loved the most however was developing those on my team – arranging training, attachments, and supporting applications for other departments for where they could make best use of their talents. I would also regularly take the various team members out with me on patrol, hosting informal one-to-one’s and also sharing some of my policing knowledge and experience. I even supervised three of the country’s first PCDA officers so learnt well the demands that operational and educational expectations place on them.

I ultimately realised that I preferred this part of the job to the actual policing part, whilst simultaneously recognising – through personal, local and national reasons – that policing was not in a healthy place. I wanted to be a part of that change. I therefore took a job up as a lecturer delivering the PEQF to new recruits. It was only a few weeks into the role that I realised that had I been taught half as much as new PEQF recruits were getting, I could have been an infinitely more effective officer. Ideas such as ‘vulnerability’ were only just being introduced into operational policing and I’d certainly never had any training on it. I had never heard of Adverse Childhood Experiences; I wasn’t aware of things such as cognitive biases and heuristics; I knew how to do a stop and search but not the impact the tactic has on various communities; and so on and so forth. What other departments did was largely a mystery to me and I certainly didn’t have opportunity to go on attachments to them.

I was initially sceptical of the PEQF, especially as an operational supervisor, but the more I have come to know about it and be involved in it, the more I passionately believe in it and advocate it from the mountain-tops. Are the current routes absolutely right? Of course not. Is going back to a pre-degree requirement a good move? Absolutely not. I’ve recently done two research studies with PCDA students and the general public that demonstrate that. And, as outlined, what does that even mean anyway – I’d rather have had a recognisable degree than a Foundation Degree, that even I don’t really understand what it means.

Editorial Team

Paul Williamson (Joint Programme Leader & Senior Lecturer); Claudia McCready (Lecturer); Eve Middleton (Tripartite Assessor – Policing); Eve Smietanko (Joint Programme Leader & Senior Lecturer); Ian Lowe (Senior Lecturer) & Micah Hassell (Senior Lecturer).

If you would like to contribute as a guest blogger, please contact paul.williamson@uwe.ac.uk

Guest blog: Reflections on a 30 year career of problem-solving

Author Paul Williamson | Posted on

Introduction

For decades Policing was founded upon local connections and awareness of problems by the local ‘beat bobby’. The evolution of Computer Aided Dispatch resulted in an era of policing that became reactionary and demand driven. As the old saying goes, ‘you can only expect what you inspect’ and policing became driven by response times and how quickly officers could move on to the next job to ‘clear the screen’.

Recognising this problem there was a drive to adopt problem-solving policing in the 1980’s which has been a feature of British policing ever since. It is a proactive approach that involves identifying problems before they result in criminal activity, rather than reacting after the event.

This month, the College of Policing published new guidelines that aim to further encourage a consistent problem-solving culture across policing. We are fortunate in this guest blog to hear from Superintendent Dickon Turner who is Chair of the Avon & Somerset Police ‘Problem Solving Workshop’ which drives the forces problem-solving philosophy, response and evaluation. Notably, it has also collaborated with the UWE Bristol Policing Programme, resulting in enhancements to the training received by Police Constable Degree Apprentices in their ‘Becoming an Evidence-Based Police Practitioner’ Module.

Image of Superintendent Dickon Turner

As Dickon prepares to retire from policing later this month, we extend our gratitude for his 30 years of public service and wish him well in his future endeavours. Here are his reflections on solving problems during a varied and rewarding 30-year police career. Over to Dickon…

Initial impressions

Image of a traditional Police helmet

In 1993 I joined Thames Valley Police looking like a 12-year-old. I struggled to find my place in a competitive macho culture where winding-up drunk people in order to arrest them was the norm and stopping 3 cars (hoping for an arrest) on the way to a burglary victim you had been deployed to was common. Luckily, I was selected to be a tutor constable then a beat manager in West Reading. Both these roles taught me the importance of investing energy into longer term work which I have found so rewarding through my career.

The early years on the job

In the 90s crimes were mostly pretty simple – virtually no-one had a mobile phone, loads of cars were stolen and fraud was mostly cheque-kiting. I found my niche though, after a 2-week attachment to the Child Protection Team in Bristol. This turned into a year, then a detective qualification, acting Detective Sergeant and some very difficult but gratifying investigations. Like the couple who tortured their toddler (30+ injuries including cigarette lighter burns) and were sent to prison, or the grandfather sentenced to 8 years for raping his 8-year-old grandson. Though the story was hard to hear, the hardest was dealing with the boy’s mother (and offender’s daughter) who asked me so many questions through her tears – like “what do I say to him when he is older? How do I deal with my mum (who was standing by the offender)?”

After a short spell as uniform sergeant at I went back to Child Abuse Investigation. This was my favourite role. I had a great team, fantastic relationships with partner agencies and dealt with a lot of harrowing cases. I investigated 13 child deaths in that time – mostly natural causes, a few suicides, but a couple of manslaughters too. It is such a privilege to be finding answers for a family at the very worst point in their whole life. Many of these will stick with me for ever.

Evidence-based Policing in practice

Dial with neddle pointng to the highest level. Evidence based practice concept

As Detective Inspector ‘Prevent’ in Counter Terrorism I learned a lot about intelligence and covert policing which I had no exposure to before, then promoted to Detective Chief Inspector in charge of Offender Management. Another busy job – 105 staff managing about 3000 offenders across Avon & Somerset. Taking a leading role with prisons, Probation and other agencies allowed me to successfully advocate for more resources to manage the riskiest people in our communities – sexual, repeat, juvenile and domestic offenders. I also developed the first domestic abuse perpetrator programme (called Drive) in Force using money from the Home Office, PCC and National Lottery. For the first time I was using an evidence base, research and good practice from elsewhere in the country to reduce risk, prevent offending and make best use of limited resources.

The importance of Neighbourhood policing, SARA and problem-solving

Image of a puzzle

I end my career in charge of Neighbourhood Policing for Somerset and Force Problem Solving lead. Neighbourhood policing is the foundation of everything in UK policing. This is where we gain, maintain or rebuild trust in policing by engaging with individuals, groups, schools and other organisations to understand crime patterns, anti-social behaviour and solve problems. We use the SARA model (Scanning, Analysis, Response and Evaluation) to understand causes before responding in order to tackle underlying issues and prevent escalation or repeat issues. Using the best data, intelligence, information from partners and analysis, this can reduce crime and long-term demand. For example, in Cheddar Gorge, a hotspot for repeated car cruises, working with land owners and the local council the installation of gabions made the area less attractive and has significantly reduced the problem for local residents Problem solving is particularly important now, because over the last 30 years crime has become more complex. Far fewer vehicle crimes and burglaries but far greater risk and vulnerability – for example, a 14-year-old child from Liverpool may be exploited to sell drugs on the streets of Weston Super Mare who may in turn threaten local kids to deal drugs or carry weapons. Anti-social behaviour, petty theft, assaults, and/or murder can all result. We need all our intelligence, analysis, flexibility and partnership working to sort all that out!

Positive impact of the PCDA

Image of the PCDA learning space at UWE Bristol

In 2022 and 23 I have been lucky enough to receive a number of Police Constable Degree Apprentices into my neighbourhood teams. Invariably these apprentices bring energy and fresh ideas. Some are reluctant to come to an area of policing perceived to be less exciting than Response Policing but quickly learn about the benefit of long-term relationships and apply problem solving approaches. They tend to consider serving our communities instead servicing of a list of calls from the public.

Concluding thoughts

Image of countdown clock from work to retirement

How many other jobs have everything above plus appearing on TV and radio, giving evidence in Crown Court, attending post-mortems, being threatened by Bob Marley’s drummer, or being urinated on by a drunk woman (a career low point), pursuing stolen cars, interviewing paedophiles……? Anyone in policing now has my utmost respect and best wishes – stay safe out there.

Further resources

Readers interested in finding out more can refer to these helpful resources:

Evidence-based guidelines to support the effective implementation of problem-oriented policing. 

SARA Model

College of Policing Crime Reduction Toolkit Problem Oriented Policing

Editorial Team

Paul Williamson (Joint Programme Leader & Senior Lecturer); Claudia McCready (Lecturer); Eve Middleton (Tripartite Assessor – Policing); Eve Smietanko (Senior Lecturer); Ian Lowe (Senior Lecturer) & Micah Hassell (Senior Lecturer).

If you would like to contribute as a guest blogger, please contact paul.williamson@uwe.ac.uk

Back to top