UCL Jill Dando Institute

Last updated

UCL Jill Dando Institute of Security and Crime Science
Established2001
DirectorRichard Wortley
Location
London, United Kingdom
Website UCL Jill Dando Institute of Security and Crime Science

The UCL Jill Dando Institute of Security and Crime Science (informally the Jill Dando Institute or the JDI) is an institute of crime science located in London, United Kingdom, and a part of University College London (UCL). It was founded in 2001, becoming the first university institute in the world devoted specifically to crime science. [1] The institute's current director is Richard Wortley. [2]

Contents

History

The Jill Dando memorial garden in Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare Jills Garden.jpg
The Jill Dando memorial garden in Weston-super-Mare

In April 1999 the broadcaster Jill Dando was murdered outside her home in west London. [3] Her colleague and co-presenter of the BBC One programme Crimewatch , Nick Ross proposed a memorial to her in the form of a new university institution in her name, for which he was awarded an OBE in 2021. [4] [3] Ross had already conceived of crime science as a new discipline which distinguished itself from criminology by focusing on crime prevention, scientific methodology and multidisciplinary approach. [5] [6] He and Dando's fiancé, Alan Farthing, established the Jill Dando Fund with the help of the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens, the Countess of Wessex, and her family and friends. [3]

On 15 March 2000 the Jill Dando Fund was launched in London at Claridge's hotel, followed by the launch of the Jill Dando Fund Appeal on 12 September 2000. The appeal raised £1.5 million and UCL was selected to host the Jill Dando Institute of Crime Science. [3] Gloria Laycock, OBE was appointed as the first director of the institute in January 2001. [1] The institute was opened on 26 April 2001, the second anniversary of Jill Dando's murder. [7] [8]

Scholarship

The main portico of University College London UCL Portico Building.jpg
The main portico of University College London

In May 2004 the institute established new scholarships for its MSc in crime science. [9] In 2005 a Security and Crime Science Centre was established at the institute to work with industry partners in creating new approaches to counter terrorism. In the same year the International Crime Science Network was established. [10] The institute published research in May 2006 which showed that the UK and France are perceived to have the worst problems with anti-social behaviour in Europe. [11] [12] The Centre for Security and Crime Science opened in October 2006. [13]

In 2009 UCL established the Department of Security and Crime Science as a separate entity from the institute in order to enable the offering of post-graduate taught and research courses in security and crime science. [14] The institute continued as a cross-departmental research institute in security and crime science. [14] In September 2009 the Home Office was criticised after it drew up timescales for how long DNA samples should be retained based on research by the institute that had not yet been finished. [15] [16]

See also

Related Research Articles

University College London, which operates as UCL, is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. It is a member institution of the federal University of London, and is the second-largest university in the United Kingdom by total enrolment and the largest by postgraduate enrolment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jill Dando</span> English journalist and television presenter (1961–1999)

Jill Wendy Dando was an English journalist, television presenter and newsreader. She spent most of her career at the BBC and was the corporation's Personality of the Year in 1997. At the time of her death, her television work included co-presenting the BBC One programme Crimewatch with Nick Ross.

Crime science is the study of crime in order to find ways to prevent it. Three features distinguish crime science from criminology: it is single-minded about cutting crime, rather than studying it for its own sake; accordingly it focuses on crime rather than criminals; and it is multidisciplinary, notably recruiting scientific methodology rather than relying on social theory.

Barry Michael George is an Englishman who was found guilty of the murder of English television presenter Jill Dando and whose conviction was overturned on appeal.

The United Kingdom National DNA Database is a national DNA Database that was set up in 1995. In 2005 it had 3.1 million profiles and in 2020 it had 6.6 million profiles. 270,000 samples were added to the database in 2019–20, populated by samples recovered from crime scenes and taken from police suspects. 124,000 were deleted for those not charged or not found guilty. There were 731,000 matches of unsolved crimes between 2001 and 2020.

Sue Cook is a British television presenter and author. She is best known for co-presenting the BBC One factual crime show Crimewatch from 1984 until 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Ross</span> British radio and television presenter (born 1947)

Nicholas David Ross is a British radio and television presenter. During the 1980s and 1990s he was one of the most ubiquitous of British broadcasters but is best known for hosting the BBC TV programme Crimewatch, which he left in 2007 after 23 years. He has subsequently filmed a series for BBC One called The Truth About Crime and has made documentaries for BBC Radio 4. He is chairman, president, trustee or patron of a number of charities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of University College London</span> Aspect of history

University College London (UCL) was founded on 11 February 1826, under the name London University, as a secular alternative to the strictly religious universities of Oxford and Cambridge. It was founded with the intention from the beginning of it being a university, not a college or institute. However its founders encountered strong opposition from the Church of England, the existing universities and the medical schools which prevented them from securing the Royal Charter under the title of "university" that would grant "London University" official recognition and allow it to award degrees. It was not until 1836, when the latter-day University of London was established, that it was legally recognised and granted the authority to submit students for the degree examinations of the University of London.

Gloria Laycock was the founding Director of the Jill Dando Institute of Crime Science at University College London (UCL), and ran UCL's Centre for Security & Crime Science. She is an internationally renowned expert in crime prevention, and especially situational approaches which seek to design out situations which provoke crime.

University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) is an NHS foundation trust based in London, United Kingdom. It comprises University College Hospital, University College Hospital at Westmoreland Street, the UCH Macmillan Cancer Centre, the Royal National ENT and Eastman Dental Hospitals, the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, the Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine and the Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital.

The UCL Ear Institute is an academic department of the Faculty of Brain Sciences of University College London (UCL) located in Gray's Inn Road in the Bloomsbury district of Central London, England, next to the Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital, the UK's largest ear, nose and throat hospital.

<i>Crimewatch</i> British television programme produced by the BBC

Crimewatch is a British television programme produced by the BBC, that reconstructs major unsolved crimes in order to gain information from the public which may assist in solving the case. The programme was originally broadcast once a month on BBC One, although in the final years before cancellation it was usually broadcast roughly once every two months.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francis Crick Institute</span> Biomedical research centre in London

The Francis Crick Institute is a biomedical research centre in London, which was established in 2010 and opened in 2016. The institute is a partnership between Cancer Research UK, Imperial College London, King's College London (KCL), the Medical Research Council, University College London (UCL) and the Wellcome Trust. The institute has 1,500 staff, including 1,250 scientists, and an annual budget of over £100 million, making it the biggest single biomedical laboratory in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UCLH Biomedical Research Centre</span>

The UCLH Biomedical Research Centre is a biomedical research centre based in London. It is a partnership between University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH), University College London (UCL) the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and UCLPartners. It was one of the original five Comprehensive Biomedical Research Centres established by the NIHR in April 2007.

The UCL Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences is one of the 11 constituent faculties of University College London (UCL). The current Executive Dean of the Faculty is Professor Jennifer Hudson, having been appointed from September 2022.

The UCL Faculty of Engineering Sciences is one of the 11 constituent faculties of University College London (UCL). The Faculty, the UCL Faculty of Mathematical and Physical Sciences and the UCL Faculty of the Built Envirornment together form the UCL School of the Built Environment, Engineering and Mathematical and Physical Sciences.

Alan John Farthing, FRCOG, is an English obstetrician and gynaecologist and Surgeon-Gynaecologist to Queen Elizabeth II's Royal Household.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust</span>

Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust runs Great Ormond Street Hospital. It is closely associated with University College London (UCL) and in partnership with the UCL Institute of Child Health, which it is located adjacent to, is the largest centre for research and postgraduate teaching in children’s health in Europe. It is part of both the Great Ormond Street Hospital/UCL Institute of Child Health Biomedical Research Centre and the UCL Partners academic health science centre.

Tracey Brown is the director of Sense about Science. She leads the work on transparency of evidence used by governments in policy to ensure the public has the same access to evidence and reasoning as the decision makers. Brown has launched multiple initiatives with Sense about Science to expand and protect honest discussions of evidence, including AllTrials, a global campaign for the reporting of all clinical trial outcomes; and the Ask for Evidence campaign, which engages the public in requesting evidence for claims.

Crimewatch File was a British television programme which reconstructed the investigation of a single case that had previously been covered by Crimewatch which viewers had previously helped to solve.

References

  1. 1 2 "Director of Jill Dando Institute appointed". Times Higher Education. 5 January 2001. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
  2. ↑ "Academic Staff". UCL Jill Dando Institute of Security and Crime Science. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Jill Dando Fund". UCL Jill Dando Institute of Security and Crime Science. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
  4. ↑ Green, Alex (11 June 2021). "Ex-Crimewatch presenter Nick Ross dedicates CBE to Jill Dando Institute". The Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  5. ↑ Laycock, Gloria (14 April 2019). "We can fulfil Jill Dando's legacy by ensuring crime science keeps up with the pace of change". The Times. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  6. ↑ Smith, Martha Jane; Cornish, Derek Blaikie (2006). Secure and Tranquil Travel: Preventing Crime and Disorder on Public Transport. Routledge. p. xi. ISBN   978-0-9545607-4-4 . Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  7. ↑ "In the news: Gloria Laycock". Times Higher Education. 27 April 2001. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
  8. ↑ Cunningham, John (10 January 2001). "The appliance of science to crime control". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
  9. ↑ McCann, Grace (20 May 2004). "Postgraduate: crime science; distance learning; canine stress; urban foxes". London: The Independent on Sunday. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
  10. ↑ "Frequently asked questions". UCL Centre for Security and Crime Science. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
  11. ↑ "Bad behaviour 'worst in Europe'". BBC News. 8 May 2006. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
  12. ↑ "U.K. Has Worst Anti-Social Behavior Problem in Europe". Bloomberg. 9 May 2006. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
  13. ↑ Morelle, Rebecca (12 October 2006). "Air passengers 'could be tagged'". BBC News. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
  14. 1 2 "About Us". UCL Jill Dando Institute of Security and Crime Science. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
  15. ↑ Whitehead, Tom (25 September 2009). "Incomplete research sparks fresh DNA row". London: The Telegraph. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
  16. ↑ "DNA storage proposal 'incomplete'". BBC News. 25 September 2009. Retrieved 31 October 2010.

Coordinates: 51°31′29″N0°07′47″W / 51.524853°N 0.129594°W / 51.524853; -0.129594

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.