By James Simons And Sheila Mckenzie–
Impressive work by a university student to raise awareness of victims’ rights among police officers is set to be shared with forces across the UK, The Eye Of Media.Com has learnt.
Brought to the attention of this publication by the daughter of a serving police officer who has insisted on anonymity, but keen to show that there are police forces committed to supporting victims of a bullish culture.
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Danielle Thompsett,(pictured)a third year BSc Psychology and Criminology student at Nottingham Trent University (NTU), is currently on a year-long placement with Bedfordshire Police working as a victim and witness intern. Her work is destined to make her a stand out professional capable of contributing to meaningful change in the increasing failing Metropolitan police force.
Among her peers at University, she is her status is soon to receive a big lift as a result of her commendable work.
In the wake of the shameful and embarrassing report exposing a chronic level of institutional racism, misogyny, and homophobia in the Metropolitan police force, the ambitious youngster has been assigned with the task of developing a strategy to ensure that all victims were appropriately treated by officers in line with the Victims’ Code of Practice.
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In order to equip officers with a simple way to access information while on duty, she designed a set of QR code stickers directing officers to a website she created. Ms Thompsett also sought support from senior officers within the force and promoted the stickers through targeted internal communications.
Following the success of the stickers, which included an increase in compliance, neighbouring forces are now interested in introducing the scheme in their areas.
In addition to this project, Ms Thompsett also discovered there was a low volume of applications for court special measures by officers on behalf of vulnerable and intimidated witnesses – such as having a screen between them and the suspect, giving evidence from a separate room via live link, clearing the public gallery and asking barristers to remove their wigs.
She also found that when applications were submitted, they did not always include the suitable information for special measures to be granted.
Ms Thompsett has now filmed a series of videos in a local Crown Court to act as both a reference point for officers and also to demonstrate to witnesses what is on offer ,and familiarise them with the inside of a courtroom.
She has also included a feature on how best to get applications for special measures accepted is also being created.
The videos are now set to be shared nationally as she is adapting them to make them specific for other forces.
Ms Thompsett is also passionate about a concept known as ‘voice of the child’ which discusses the importance of listening to what a child is saying when they are present at an incident. As part of this, she has visited a local primary school to discuss with the children the importance of the police listening to them and has subsequently created an emotive video of their responses which has been shown to the force.
She has now been nominated to receive a Chief Officer’s commendation, in recognition of her outstanding work.
Ms Thompsett, originally from Welwyn in Hertfordshire, said: “The fact that other forces are interested in my ideas has reaffirmed to me the importance of my work and how much of a difference it can make. I’m really proud of these projects and how I’ve been able to have a real impact.
“I’ve found this placement really insightful, particularly the work with children and vulnerable adults as a lot of these cases discuss instances of mental health, which links to my psychology course and aspects of mental health diagnosis and warning symptoms.”
Bedfordshire Police Detective Chief Inspector Marie Gresswell said: “Danielle’s refreshing take on accomplishing our team goal makes it an absolute pleasure to work with her, with her fresh ideas and imagination. She has handled every project to an exceptionally high standard and shown resilience, experience, knowledge, and critical thinking. We have loved getting her perspective on policing and the results have shown.”
Dr Sebastian Teicher, NTU principal lecturer and Ms Thompsett’s placement tutor, said: “I know Danielle as an enthusiastic and engaged student, and it is fantastic to see her being able to make a real difference. One of the key skills in a Psychology degree is the ability to think critically, and as Danielle has shown that is something that comes in handy beyond the realms of academia.”
Professor Daragh McDermott, Associate Dean for Psychology at NTU’s School of Social Sciences, added: “We are incredibly proud of Danielle and how she has been given the opportunity to apply the learning from her NTU Psychology degree and to be innovative during her career placement with Bedfordshire Police.
“To have her achievements recognised with the Chief Officer’s commendation is a significant achievement for her and for her family.”
Nottingham Trent University (NTU) received the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in 2021 for cultural heritage science research. It is the second time that NTU has been bestowed the honour of receiving a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for its research, the first being in 2015 for leading-edge research on the safety and security of global citizens.
The Research Excellence Framework (2021) classed 83% of NTU’s research activity as either world-leading or internationally excellent. 86% of NTU’s research impact was assessed to be either world-leading or internationally excellent.
NTU was awarded The Times and The Sunday Times Modern University of the Year 2023 and ranked second best university in the UK in the Uni Compare Top 100 rankings (2021/2022).
It was also awarded Outstanding Support for Students 2020 (Times Higher Education Awards), University of the Year 2019 (Guardian University Awards, UK Social Mobility Awards), Modern University of the Year 2018 (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide) and University of the Year 2017 (Times Higher Education Awards)
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