Met Designing Out Crime Officer receives award for contributions to crime prevention

Steve Watts received multiple nominations for the award, due to his comprehensive command of Designing Out Crime methodology. For a number of years, he has been a technical lead for London and continues to oversee a diverse range of large scale residential and commercial riverside developments in one of the fastest growing areas of London, the Greenwich Peninsula. These have included residential, retail, transport, concert halls, schools, and the prestigious Kidbrooke Village, once a notorious South London crime hotspot.  

Steve was nominated by colleagues, given he is a natural and patient communicator who delivers complex information in an easy to assimilate manner. Steve recognises the importance of continuing to develop his knowledge and is always ready to share his experience to help less experienced peers gain confidence and grow into the role. His excellent knowledge and helpful nature ensures the Met DOCO team consistently deliver high security standards to domestic and international partners, the public and police colleagues. 

Steve thinks and cares deeply about the role of the DOCO, contributing to discussions with logic and well-reasoned solutions. By analysing concepts, he has positively contributed to London’s DOCO technical notices and the SBD Homes Guide, which improves security standards and drives consistency across London. 

Well-respected by his supervisors and peers, Steve’s diligence and professional competence contributes to the credibility of the DOCO role within the Met. Nominating Steve for the award, one of his colleagues stated that Steve “is an exemplar for all DOCOs and is a worthy candidate for this prestigious accolade.” 

Steve said: “I am very honoured to receive the Bob Knights MBE Award. I have the privilege of working with a very dedicated team of Designing Out Crime Officers and supervisors, and I would especially like to highlight the hard work and professionalism of a number of external partners that have made huge contributions to preventing crime across my force area of the London Royal Borough of Greenwich. From architects to planning officers to project managers and technical co-ordinators - thank you.”

Lyn Poole, Secured by Design, said of the Steve: “This is a well-deserved award for Steve. I have known him for many years now, from when he first became a DOCO. He is always professional and thorough with his work and makes sure that all due diligence is done on the developments he covers. He also has the technical advisor role and spends much of his time assisting his colleagues around ever changing standards and how they fit within the SBD guides. Congratulations, Steve!”

The Bob Knights MBE DOCO of the Year Award is in memory of Robert ‘Bob’ Knights MBE, who passed away in 2018 after serving as both a front-line police officer and in the crime prevention role of designing out crime. He became a staunch advocate of Secured by Design from its earliest days and recognised the need for training and development in this specialist sector.

l-r: Chief Constable Lauren Poultney, Steve Watts & Guy Ferguson

Steve Watts was presented the award at Secured by Design’s ATLAS conference and exhibition by Police Crime Prevention Initiatives CEO Guy Ferguson and South Yorkshire Chief Constable Lauren Poultney, head of profession for the Police Service’s DOCOs.

Police Designing Out Crime Officers

Police Designing Out Crime Officers (DOCOs) have a key role in implementing crime prevention into local communities by working closely with local planning authorities. Liaising with planners, architects, designers, developers and those responsible for the refurbishment of buildings of all types, DOCOs provide ongoing specialist advice to enable building designs to be as safe and secure as is reasonably possible, promoting an awareness of the principles of crime prevention through design to both build awareness of, and ensure the adoption of, recommended security standards and specifications.

DOCOs are able to deliver site specific interventions required to help design out crime in areas that suffer disproportionately from acquisitive crime, based on local crime pattern analysis, police, local authority and community engagement and the collective knowledge and experience of how criminals behave. These specialist officers are working every day to make a positive difference, changing lives for the better and helping people to be safe and secure in their homes.

Contact details for local DOCOs can be found here.

The ATLAS Conference and Exhibition

Every year since the mid-1990’s SBD have hosted a Continuing Professional Development training conference for the Designing Out Crime Officers and Crime Prevention Officers based in police forces around the country who deliver SBD at a local level, the ATLAS conference and exhibition.

This event sees Designing Out Crime Officers and Crime Prevention Officers coming together to stay up to date with the ever-changing landscape of new standards, statutory requirements and technical developments. With delegates attending from all over England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales – as well as the British Transport Police and delegates from other roles within the crime prevention, planning and construction fields - it is also a chance for them to share best practice across forces and network with colleagues from around the UK.

SBD offer a number of opportunities at the ATLAS conference exclusively to member companies to interact directly with these officers and introduce them to their products and innovations. ATLAS continues to grow year on year, with this year’s being the largest ever held, with more exhibitors than ever before taking advantage of the fantastic opportunity afforded by the conference.

Find out about SBD membership here.