Vulnerability and policing research centre launches

A ground-breaking new research centre aims to change how the police, public services and local government work together to help vulnerable people. The Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre is a joint initiative led by the University of Leeds and University of York, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The centre brings together a wide range of national and regional partners to study how policing and other services can better tackle problems associated with vulnerabilities. These include exploitation by county lines drug networks, online child sexual exploitation, domestic abuse, modern slavery, mental illness and homelessness. The launch event, on 12 October at the Leeds' School of Law , outlines the centre's ambitious agenda and brings together police, councils and representatives of partner organisations from across Yorkshire. It also includes a talk from Zoë Billingham, who served as Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services for 12 years and is currently Chair of Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust. She will highlight the importance of the centre's research for policing, health and beyond.