An inspiring cohort of undergraduates from the University of Lincoln, supported by the Office for Students, have been exploring the links between geographic deprivation and crime.
The student cohort came from a variety of academic disciplines, ranging from Accountancy and Finance; History; Marketing; and Law.
The students took four areas in Lincolnshire, two with high deprivation, two with low, to compare and examine.
This fascinating enquiry offers much potential to inform holistic approaches in Police and Crime Plans. The work also builds on a previous call from EMPAC about the need to better understand why apparently low crime areas are low – as an alternative to just analysing high crime patterns. More work still needs to be done on this topic – you can read more about that call here:- https://empac.org.uk/epidemiological-enquiry-and-the-absence-of-crime/
The approach taken by the students explored a number of factors for consideration, including demographic diversity, education, economic income and property prices and drew on published academic research to see how theoretical perspectives matched with Lincolnshire reality.
This holistic approach offers an inspirational exemplar for other students, who may not be formally studying policing or criminology yet show how a broad diversity of methods and academic disciplines can help inform policing, support enhanced community resilience and aspiration, and keep people safer.
Theory met practice well with the work completed by the students, as not only did they analyse and explore theoretical frameworks, but they added their own voices, based on the evidence, to make recommendations to policing and partners about to improve services in the future.
EMPAC congratulations the University of Lincoln and the students!
The full report can be accessed here: –Lincolnshire Police_Community Differences_Report_
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