Mrs Rebecca Skellett1, Miss Rebecca Parsons
1Devon and Cornwall Police/ OPCC, Exeter, United Kingdom
How can you rebuild trust after a mass shooting? On 12th August 2022 it will be one year since the mass shooting in Keyham, Plymouth by the gunman 22-year-old Jake Davison who shot and killed five people and injured two others before fatally shooting himself.
Drawing on lessons learnt from other tragedies and the evidence base on the impacts of trauma, it was clear that immediate resources and focus were required in the short, medium, and long term to aid the community’s recovery.
Our presentation will explain how together as a united “Safer Keyham”, Devon and Cornwall Police, the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) and Plymouth City Council have worked together to:
- Restore feelings of safety through target hardening, high visibility policing, problem solving approaches and extensive community engagement.
- Mitigate future and existing harm through hot spot policing and safer streets style interventions.
- Advance community action through investment in empowerment and skills-based engagement, an enhanced youth provision and citizen consultations to lead to sustainable citizen led change.
Activities have been funded through the local Serious Violence Prevention Programme and two Home Office grants. The presentation will summarise the journey, lessons learnt and impact to date, summarising the early findings of the University of Plymouth who are evaluating whether the neighbourhood policing activities been effective in reassuring residents and reducing crime through primary interviews, focus groups and surveys alongside analysis of crime data.
In conclusion, the presentation will explain the positive impact the dedicated neighbourhood policing have had in reassuring residents that Keyham is a safe place to live, work and play. However, we question whether eighteen months of resourcing is long enough for impact to be visible and sustained.
(A literature review of the evidence base that informed our approach is available upon request)
Biography:
Becky joined Devon and Cornwall as Director of Serious Violence Prevention working to both the Police and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner to lead a peninsula wide violence prevention programme. She brings more than a decade’s experience in spearheading prevention of violence programming having served as founding Head of the Strong Cities Network which launched at the United Nations General Assembly in 2015 working with over 150+ local authorities globally to prevent terrorism following five years delivering the Prevent Strategy. She serves as an expert advisor to the Department for Education and the European Commission.