Home Secretary praises UPSI's work with South Wales Police

The Home Secretary has praised the Universities’ Police Science Institute at Cardiff University and South Wales Police for their innovative and ground-breaking partnership.    

In a speech to the Police Superintendent’s Conference (10 September 2012), on the importance of developing police professionalism, Theresa May MP emphasised the importance of police research, saying: "There are already examples of forces working closely with academics…In South Wales through their partnership with Cardiff University, looking at the application of community intelligence."

Commenting on the Home Secretary’s statement Professor Martin Innes, Director of the Institute said: "I am really pleased that our work with South Wales Police is gaining national recognition. We have been trialling methods to develop more effective police-community engagement in order that the police can understand the needs of local communities and respond to these to reduce the harm caused by crime and disorder."

New Report Download: Policing, Situational Intelligence & The Information Environment

Policing, Situational Intelligence & The Information Environment: A Report To Her Majesty’s Inspectorate Of Constabulary

New Report Download: Improving the partnership response to ASB in South Wales

Improving the Partnership Response to Anti-Social Behaviour in South Wales: An assessment of processes and outcomes.

Final Report(Amended 03/11/11) Trudy Lowe, Helen Innes and Martin Innes, Cardiff University This document reports key findings from an assessment of the progress made by South Wales Police (SWP) and the seven Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) across South Wales in improving their management of anti-social behaviour problems(ASB). The work reported on forms part of a wider series of field trials beingoverseen by the Home Office, which are collectively intended to develop innovationand good practice in terms of responding effectively and efficiently to such issues

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Prof Martin Innes, director of the Police Science Institute at Cardiff University, said he was optimistic the reforms would work, despite the challenge of a public spending squeeze.

"I think one of the things to say about looking forward is this is going to be an incredibly challenging role," he said.

"There's been lots of debate about politicisation and what could go wrong with it.

"But actually we know that public services are going to see reductions in funding and it's going to be very difficult, I think, for any police and crime commissioner to square, if you like, public demand for policing and the resources that they have actually got available."

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VIDEO: Anti-social crime action is key, says police professor Martin Innes

Martin Innes, professor of police science at Cardiff University, says despite the financial challenges facing police forces across Wales, dealing with anti-social problems is very important as incidents acted like magnets, causing other problems.

"One of the reasons we know dealing with anti-social behaviour is very important is because it stops the onset of criminal careers," he said.

His comments come after Ian Arundale, retiring chief constable of Dyfed-Powys Police, says police could miss crime such as anti-social behaviour due to UK government cuts.

View Video on BBC Website