Diploma in Designing Out Crime for Natural History Museum senior security manager

Adrian Wells is one of the first candidates outside of the Police Service to achieve this diploma and his role will see the application of the qualification in the particular context of the Museum. As with all candidates who undertake the qualification, he was assessed against criteria which includes understanding and applying the concept of designing out crime through the application of CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design), as well as understanding the design phase and the role of the planning system in relation to the built environment.

The Natural History Museum is a world-class visitor attraction and leading science research centre in South Kensington, London which first opened its doors on 18 April 1881. The building is one of Britain’s most striking examples of Romanesque architecture, and now considered a work of art in its own right. The Museum cares for more than 80 million specimens spanning billions of years and welcome more than five million visitors annually.

Head of Academy Guy Collyer said: “The delivery of this Level 5 Designing Out Crime qualification was a new experience for the Academy, but as the ProQual centre with the exclusive link to the Secured by Design initiative our qualified tutors and assessors were able to support Adrian in making the links with his working environment.

“By achieving this qualification, Adrian has demonstrated that designing out crime is relevant in its application to unique environments, such as the Natural History Museum. The Academy welcomes enquiries from anyone who feels that the Level 5 Designing Out Crime qualification would be relevant to their role as bespoke solutions can be produced to cater for specific needs within the private sector.”

Adrian Wells, Deputy Head of Security and Emergency Planning at the Natural History Museum, said: “Studying for and achieving this qualification has equipped me with the skills to be able to understand CPTED principles and the planning process and apply these specifically in a Museum context.

“The Natural History Museum always has a rolling programme of projects on the go, from exhibition builds through to extensive grounds projects and so it is extremely valuable from a security standpoint to be able to provide input at the design stage on Museum plans in order to reduce the opportunity for crime. We are currently at RIBA Stage 3 with our Urban Nature Project and the design team have considered and incorporated all the SBD recommendations we have made on the plans so far.

“Having this qualification really helps to underpin elements of our Natural History Museum security strategy around delivering an exemplary service and protecting our staff, visitors and the collection.”

The Academy is an established provider of police training and is the ProQual approved centre with the exclusive link to the Secured by Design initiative.

Further details about the range of qualifications offered by the Academy, can be obtained by visiting https://www.crimepreventionacademy.com/ or emailing .

The Academy is part of Police Crime Prevention Initiatives, the police owned, non-profit organisation that works on behalf of the Police Service throughout the UK to deliver a wide range of crime prevention and police demand reduction initiatives. The Academy maintains close working links with the National Police Chiefs’ Council, as well as senior police officers from across the UK, and is the established supplier to the police service for crime prevention learning & development.

The Academy also delivers a number of qualifications to the private sector, working closely with local authorities and relevant specialists such as architects and planners, and recently launched a number of distance learning qualifications which can be achieved without the need to be away from home or work. The Academy pride itself in keeping the quality of qualifications at a premium and the costs at a minimum.