The British Security Industry Association (BSIA) has elected broadcaster and campaigner Nick Ross CBE as its new president.
Nick will replace Sir Keith Povey, who retires as president after 14 years, taking up the role on 19th April at the Association’s Annual General Meeting in London. His primary goal will be to continue the work on developing the relationship between police and private security.
Starting as a junior reporter while still at university, Nick covered the Northern Ireland troubles for the BBC and moved to host programmes such as Radio 4’s The World at One, PM and The World Tonight. He became a TV reporter, documentary director, political correspondent and chaired live debates, but was best known for the crime appeals programme Crimewatch which he presented for over two decades. He conceived the new discipline of Crime Science which focuses on practical, multidisciplinary and outcome-focused approaches to crime reduction, and he founded the Jill Dando Institute at UCL which has grown into one of the largest academic crime prevention departments in the world. He has served on several government crime prevention committees and has advised Victim Support and the National Police Chiefs Council.
Nick has been involved in several other community safety initiatives, notably in road accident reduction and fire safety, and has a long interest in healthcare and public understanding of science.
Simon Banks, BSIA Chairman, said: “It’s an honour to welcome Nick as our new president. His experience in law enforcement and the security sector will provide huge benefits to BSIA member companies. We must see the Police and the private security sector working together, alongside deployment of the latest technology whilst sharing event intelligence to increase public safety.”
Nick said, “Crime is a measure of society’s wellbeing, and the UK does not have a good enough record, midway down the league table for industrialised nations. We all know prevention is better than cure, and learning is better than blame. Crime reduction requires industry to take responsibility for making its services and products safe, as well as an ever-closer relationship between the private sector and police.
“The BSIA is a key player. It represents the often-undervalued army of informal guardians and sometimes brilliant innovators who help make our world a safer place. I hope the next few years will see a growing alliance between technologists, ethicists, police and the private sector to help communities be more at ease with themselves and to drive improvements for the UK’s record of crime reduction.”
Read the rest of this exclusive interview in our latest issue here.
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