Staff from four councils joined police officers as the Police Crime Prevention Academy delivered an APSE (Association for Public Service Excellence) Safer Communities workshop last month.
The workshop saw staff and officers from a range of community safety roles at Hambledon and Selby district councils, and Harrogate and Scarborough borough councils and North Yorkshire Police take the opportunity to share practice and network with colleagues about their role in making local communities safer through preventing and reducing crime and the application of ‘Secured by Design’ (SbD). Many of the challenges require partnership working. This was the first time that some of the organisations have invested in staff training of this nature for a number of years.
The Police Crime Prevention Academy is an APSE Approved Partner for local authorities and is a supplier for police learning and development accredited qualifications and bespoke events in crime prevention, designing out crime and problem solving. The Academy is the only approved centre of the awarding body ProQual with the exclusive link to UK police’s Secured by Design initiative.
The Head of Academy Guy Collyer said, “We’re delighted to facilitate this opportunity for local authority staff and their police colleagues to consider good practice and new opportunities for helping to make their local communities safer. All of the Academy’s qualifications are open to anyone engaged in security, policing, and community engagement, who work towards and contribute to supporting safer communities. This includes Police, Local Authorities, Security Staff and others with an interest in building security such as Fire, Architects and Planners.”
On the partnership between APSE and the Academy, APSE Chief Executive Paul O’Brien said, “Strengthening the link between the police and local government is key to ensuring the safety of diverse communities across the UK. At a time of financial uncertainty, the Academy’s courses offer real value for money; I am in no doubt that this partnership will bring enormous benefits to our members and I very much look forward to working with them.”
About the Police Crime Prevention Academy (PCPA)
It’s part of Police Crime Prevention Initiatives (PCPI), the police-owned organisation that works on behalf of UK police. Visit https://www.crimepreventionacademy.com/.
Picture by Mark Rowe; Scarborough Castle, dawn, summer 2019.
