Celebrating high impact research for Nottingham Custody

Queen may have wanted to break free but the facilities at a new Nottingham custody suite are attracting admiring visitors from all over the UK!  EMPAC Fellow Police Inspector Duncan Collins and Dr Chloe Hollow of the University of Nottingham have been co-producing research and innovation all about improving the quality of the environment in police custody.

Duncan, of Nottinghamshire Police, has been working on the design of a brand new custody complex in Nottingham, and as part of that, linked in with academic researchers with a joint interest. He said, “I’m really proud of what we’ve achieved working together – the innovation and feedback has been fantastic. It just shows what can be achieved when practitioners and researchers work together. If someone is out there asking what difference research can make to policing then start by taking a look at what we’ve done here!”.

Duncan undertook a PG Cert at Nottingham Trent University, focussing on custody suites and well being. His work has certainly paid off! EMPAC is very keen on research impact (making a difference) and on our Impact Typology we reckon this scores a maximum of 5 on applied research – serving as an inspiration to other researchers. (See the Impact Typology here):- https://empac.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/EMPAC-IMPACT-CAPACITY-RATING.pdf

The improvements in custody design have been particularly of benefit for clients with autism, and arguably the current facilities are the best of their kind in the world – and directly thanks to practitioners working with academic researchers.

Earlier this year Dr Chloe Holloway’s research and work with Nottinghamshire Police was put forward for consideration of an Celebrating Impact Prize by the Economic and Social research Council (ESRC) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).  Chloe attended the British Medical Research Association to present her work and Duncan  accompanied her as a professional practitioner  to report on how the work (video resources, toolkits and assistance with the custody design) has assisted the groundbreaking work.  On the 9th of July the pair attended London for the awards ceremony (see main picture). 

Dr Holloway was awarded runner up in the Outstanding Early Career Impact category and won the Future Promise Prize.  She has also been awarded a fellowship to continue her great work at Nottingham University.

Word is out about how good the research informed innovations are and last week Gwent Police, who are planning a new custody suite, visited to meet Chloe and see her work and also to look at the Nottingham custody suite.  As a result, Chloe is going to visit Gwent to assist with staff training and to share the video and toolkit.  The PSNI are going to visit the Nottingham team in September for the same reasons. You need to see for yourself!

If you’re interested contact Duncan at: duncan.collins@nottinghamshire.pnn.police.uk

Watch this inspiring video clip to see how research has made police custody more autism-friendly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=01&v=qAoW5U54bXM

Here is an image of the Suite: 

Image of the award winning new Custody Suite

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