Richard is a former senior police officer with West Midlands police with over 30 years experience working with a variety of partners to tackle complex social issues such as domestic violence, violent extremism, diversion of offenders and child sexual exploitation. He was part of the policing unit responsible for the development of a partner based Prevent strategy in Birmingham from 2008-2015.
As part of this strategy he worked alongside Birmingham City Council’s Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub, the education sector, communities and NHS to develop a programme designed to divert individuals from terrorism in a proportionate and balanced way. Part of this strategy involved the extensive briefing of partners and communities about the nature of the threat, delivering training and community involvement and leadership of many successful interventions.