Putting prevention first
National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) Prevention Lead and Merseyside Chief Constable Serena Kennedy opened the 2023 Secured by Design ATLAS national training conference and exhibition, setting the scene for a prevention focussed conference by underlining her vision of putting prevention first within policing.
Addressing an audience of over 200 police Designing Out Crime Officers (DOCOs) Chief Constable Kennedy highlighted the challenges policing faces given the rising cost of living, potential strain on budgets and the possibility of partners having to focus on their own demand and funding challenges, making the work of the Prevention Coordination Committee that she leads at a national level even more important.
Underscoring the role that the DOCO’s have to play in this critical piece of work, she said: “We should absolutely be continuing and driving forward that focus on prevention and working across the whole public sector system to stop that demand, and your role is absolutely front and centre of that demand and harm reduction piece of work”
“When I talk about prevention, let me be absolutely clear - policing has to get the basics right, we have to make sure people feel they are getting that high quality of service. We must have a much broader approach to policing and a clearer connection to our communities and partners. I believe that will be done through the preventative approach.
“The NPCC Prevention Coordination Committee structure will enable us to work together across policing with partners, industry and government taking a whole system approach to deliver the National Preventative Policing Strategy. It is vital that we all work together with our partners to embed preventative policing. We can demonstrate the benefits of prevention, whether it be the cost, reducing victims or reducing reoffending. We should be excellent at this”.
In October 2021 the National Police Chiefs’ Council designated the role of the DOCO as a specialist role within policing, with all DOCOs required to complete mandatory Continuous Professional Development.
The Secured by Design (SBD) ATLAS national training conference and exhibition saw over 200 DOCOs from across the UK come together for a series of workshops and presentations, as part of their annual CPD to update themselves in their knowledge of new legislation, crime trends, security methodologies and other relevant subjects.
