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 Crime prevention is the attempt to reduce and deter crime and criminals. It is applied specifically to efforts made by governments to reduce crime, enforce the law, and maintain criminal justice. Studies Criminologists, commissions, and research b ...

, and especially situational approaches which seek to design out situations which provoke

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...

. She was born in New Brighton and raised in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and graduated in

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

from UCL in 1968. She began her career as a prison psychologist, and in 1975 she completed her PhD, working at

Wormwood Scrubs Wormwood Scrubs, known locally as The Scrubs (or simply Scrubs), is an open space in Old Oak Common located in the north-eastern corner of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London. It is the largest open space in the borough, ...

prison in West London. Building on her PhD research, she commenced work in the late 1970s at the Home Office Research Unit where she stayed for over thirty years, dedicating the last twenty to research and development in the policing and crime prevention fields. She founded the Home Office Police Research Group, and edited its publications on policing and crime prevention for seven years. Alongside working in Britain, she has been a consultant on policing and crime prevention in

North and South America The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, the

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. She was an advisor to HEUNI, a UN affiliated crime prevention organisation based in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

from 2001 until 2012. In 1999 she was awarded an International Fellowship by the United States National Institute of Justice in

Washington DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, followed by a four-month consultancy at the

Australian Institute of Criminology The Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) is Australia's national research and knowledge centre on crime and criminal justice. The Institute seeks to promote justice and reduce crime by undertaking and communicating evidence-based research ...

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

. She returned to the UK to become the founding director of the Jill Dando Institute of Crime Science in 2001. The institute engages a wide range of sciences and design experts in cross-disciplinary work in collaboration with police and industry to find new ways to reduce crime. Professor Laycock’s contributions cover a wide range of policing and crime prevention topics, including the development of a research programme on repeat crime victimisation. The prevention of repeat victimisation became an important indicator of policing performance and effectiveness in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. In 2010 she left UCL on special leave and was appointed to improve policing in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

. In 2013 she returned to UCL where she is now the Jill Dando Professor of Crime Science. She was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours.

Footnotes

References

* Farrell, G., G. Laycock and N. Tilley. (2015). ‘Debuts and legacies: The crime drop and the role of adolescence-limited and persistent offending’ Crime Science, 4(16); 1-10. *Tilley, N. and G. Laycock (2018) Developing a knowledge base for crime prevention: lessons learned from the British experience Crime Prevention and Community Safety, (), 1-15 DOI 10.1057/s41300-018-0053-8 *Laycock, G. (2005). Deciding what to do. Chapter 23 in Tilley, N. (ed.), ''Handboook of Crime Prevention and Community Safety''. Tavistock, Devon: Willan Publishing, 1st edition, 674-698. *Laycock, G. (2004). The UK Car Theft Index: An Example of Government Leverage. Chapter 17 in Maxfield, M. and Clarke, R.V. (ed.), ''Understanding and Preventing Car Theft - Crime Prevention Studies''. Devon, UK: Willian Publishing, 2004 edition, 25-44. *Laycock, G. (2004). New Challenges for Law Enforcement. ''European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research'', 10(1), 39-53. *Bouloukos, A., Farrell, G. and Laycock, G. (2003). Transnational Organised Crime in Europe and North America: The Need for Situational Crime Prevention Efforts. In Aromaa, K., Seppo Leppä, Sami Nevala and Natalia Ollus (eds.), ''Crime and Criminal Justice Systems in Europe and North America 1995-1997'', pps 176-192. European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control (HEUNI), Helsinki. *Laycock, G. and Webb, B. (2003). Conclusions: The Role of the Centre. In Karen Bullock and Nick Tilley (eds), ''Crime Reduction and Problem-oriented Policing''. Cullumpton: Willan. *Cameron, M. and Laycock, G. (2002). Crime Prevention in Australia. In Graycar, A. and Grabosky, P., ''The Cambridge Handbook''. *Laycock, G. (2001). Hypothesis Based Research: The Repeat Victimization Story. ''Criminology and Criminal Justice'', 1(1), 59-82. *Laycock, G., Clarke, R.V. (2001). Crime Prevention Policy and Government Research: A Comparison of the United States and the United Kingdom. ''International Journal of Comparative Sociology'', Vol XLII, Number 1-2, PPS 235-255. Special Issue: Varieties of Comparative Criminology. Edited by Gregory Howard and Graeme Newman. Leiden: Brill. *Laycock, G. and Tilley, N. (1995). Implementing Crime Prevention. ''Crime and Justice'', 19, 535-584. *Laycock, G. (1991). Operation Identification, or the Power of Publicity? ''Security Journal'', 2(2), 67-71. *Heal, K. and Laycock, G. (1986). ''Situational Crime Prevention: From Theory into Practice''. London: Home Office. {{DEFAULTSORT:Laycock, Gloria Academics of University College London Alumni of University College London British criminologists British women criminologists Officers of the Order of the British Empire Year of birth missing (living people) Living people