February 2024.
Dear Richard
I am writing to thank you, David, and Mick for the WorkSecure tour we experience with you on the 27th February 2024. As you know my students are in the first and second years of their Professional Policing Degree at the University of Plymouth which is licenced by the College of Policing, so it covers the police national curriculum for aspiring police officers. I found that the subjects you covered during the day linked well with the modules that we are delivering for the students.
The first part of your tour, the scaffold site, the historic city and the visit to All Hallows by the Tower linked well with our Module PPD 4001 Introduction to British Policing.
The points you covered on the Jack the Ripper murders in the visit to the deposition site of Catherine Eddowes’ body in Mitre Square reflected the work we do on the Golden Hour and initial police response in our Module PPD4002 Response Policing. In the first semester of the second year the students engage in three modules with significant practical sessions which take them on a journey from crime scene to court. Your session in Mitre Square dovetailed with the 10 steps of crime scene preservation (Monkton-Smith) which we cover in modules PPD5001 Crime Scenes and Suspect Interviews, PPD 5002 No Witness, No Justice and PPD 5003 Delivering Justice.
The students greatly enjoyed the covert foot surveillance exercise with Dave and Mick, using the checklists you provided to analyse the tactics you demonstrated as well as relating nicely to our module PPD 4003 which is all about the National Intelligence Model.
Spitalfields Market id an excellent choice for a lunch stop as there was a plethora of excellent street food available for us.
After lunch you took the students on an evocative journey through the multicultural nature of Victorian and contemporary London through an examination of colonial street names as well as a visit to the boarding house and photos from the era of the Ripper murders. You sensitively discussed the nature of sexual offences and the evidential issues associated with securing convictions in such cases.
As a former Head of Equality and Diversity within the police I particularly enjoyed your discussion on the community cohesion impact on the Victorian Jewish community at the time of the Ripper murders as well as the contemporary impact of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict on current ethnic and religious communities in the City. This material helps to exemplify the materials studied by our students on modules PPD 4005, Moving beyond the “Bobby on the Beat”, and PPD 5005 Equality, Diversity and Human Rights.
The final session of the day at Dorset Street, and the deposition site of Mary Kelly’s body, neatly tied up all the other materials with a review of the differences between the 1888 crime scene management and those we could employ today. The first examples of crime scene photography which you showed the students was the icing on the cake in terms of bringing to life the process of major crime investigation.
I appreciate that a visit in February was always going to be cold but the rain held off and the students were buzzing with enthusiasm on the coach all the way back to Plymouth so I would like to thank you and your team once again for a hugely informative and well delivered walking tour. In fact, the staff noticed that the process of handling the cold and being together in London did wonders for the cohesion of the group, with the students coming together more than I have seen them do before. It really improved their esprit de corps through shared experience. We thoroughly enjoyed the day and will be back next year!
I would be happy for you to pass my details to any prospective customers if they want to speak to me about the learning benefits arising from a WorkSecure experience. I am convinced that the WorkSecure experience would be a worthy addition to Professional Policing and Criminology or Sociology courses at other Universities or Higher and Further Education Colleges, and even for students studying those subjects at A level. I will happily recommend your tours to people I know working in that field.
Dr Brendan P. Brookshaw BSc (Hons), MSc, MILM, aFHEA
Lecturer in Professional Policing and Criminology
“The tour conducted by Richard and his colleagues kept our students engaged and interested throughout a busy day. Many of our students are interested in careers in crime control and prevention and really valued hearing from experts who brought the topic to life. Students remarked to me after the tour how much the enjoyed it and how it had helped them think about their career choices.”
“‘A great day I would thoroughly recommend the two part criminology course. Richards subject knowledge is second to none. If your interested in criminology Jack the ripper the city of London and policing then this is a course for you’.”
“‘Richard, from WorkSecure Group, led us through the old East End, in an attempt to bring the Criminology A level course to life. He succeeded beautifully in galvanising the students. The use of techniques honed in the Police service excited the students, and engagement was thus on high alert throughout! Richard constantly challenged perceptions, and filled in many a gap in understanding and knowledge. The activity on surveillance along Shoreditch High Street was a particularly memorable aspect. Students were able to bring the practical demonstrations back into the classroom, in preparation for exams’.”
“‘I was very impressed with Richard and Andy - NB Richard had the large History group, Andy had the smaller non -history group. Given the last minute booking and the lack of time to ascertain any details from the school they did an amazing job.”
“‘As part of my commercial teams development I arranged a tour of Whitechapel with Richard and Steve. The tour didn’t disappoint and covered a whole range of social issues which were prevalent in the late 18th and early 19 century. Richards knowledge of the subject was exceptional. His police experience brought a technical aspect to the tour which had my team enthralled. Richards delivery was first class his understanding of subject was amazing. Richard made a very positive impact on my team who still talk about the tour.
I would highly recommend and commend any one to take the tour it certainly got my team to bond outside of the workplace.’”
“‘ Richard B – brilliant – already knew from Whitechapel. REALLY great guide. Content fully covered in depth. Engaged as wanted with students.”
