David Lucy Receives Lifetime Achievement Award for Crime Prevention

Former Metropolitan Police Sergeant, David Lucy, was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Secured by Design ATLAS Awards. Police CPI spoke to him about his career, his achievements and the impact of crime prevention.

Congratulations David, what do you think about your lifetime achievement award?

When I received the award, I wasn’t sure I deserved it. I led a team of brilliant DOCOs (Designing Out Crime Officers) in North London who were all highly skilled at what they did.

When I came home, I asked my wife if I could put it up in the house – she said no, but I’m allowed to display it in the garden office!

Seriously, it’s very humbling and I’m very proud.

How long were you a DOCO and what did you do before?

I was a DOCO for eleven years, before that I worked on the frontline. I was a Ward Sergeant for a small area in North London, prior to that I worked on the response team and in the TSG (Territorial Support Group) responding to public disorder.

When I had young children, I got to the point in my career when I wanted to do something different and I saw an advert for a DOCO job. I had never heard of the role, and when I applied, I didn’t really know what the job fully involved.

I didn’t look back; it’s really been an amazing journey and eventually I led a unit of DOCOs who worked across London.

You have been credited for managing a unit that has delivered highly effective crime reduction initiatives

All I did was nudge my team, they were all so capable.

When I first started as a DOCO there were so many planning responses and planning policies, we were doing a lot of work but having very little impact. There was also very little reference to Designing Out Crime Officers or Secured by Design.

It was important for us to get out there more, and I started having conversations with local authorities, meeting planners and other partners. There are seven borough councils in North London, each operating a slightly different Local Planning Authority, so building trust and relationships with each of them was essential.

It proved worthwhile because, across North London, DOCO involvement increasingly became a planning condition, and the use of Secured by Design principles and accredited products became a client requirement.

Over time borough developers, architects, regeneration developers and local authorities were all communicating with us and could see the benefits and reduction in crime.

I think I helped bring that strategic level of thinking to the team and the importance of building relationships with partners and stakeholders.

You’ve also had a measurable impact on community safety – reducing burglary, anti-social behaviour and vehicle crime across all of the boroughs in NE London.

In my role, I realised it was important to create a sense of continuity across our DOCO unit because previously a DOCO may have built close relationships on an individual level but if they left the job that relationship also disappeared. I wanted us to create relationships as a unified DOCO unit and have ownership of an area as a unit, so we had to be more aligned.

This also meant having systems in place and thinking about how we recorded data so that we could show impact through evidence.

We used some of the academic studies and STATS from Police Crime Prevention Initiatives (Police CPI) to show the reduction in crime and how it can have a wider impact. Burglary, for example, isn’t about just losing your van and tools. It can mean a call out and police response, loss of earnings, it increases insurance costs and can have a lasting impact on a person’s wellbeing or a family’s sense of safety. The effects and costs of crime radiate out far beyond the initial crime. You can’t put a cost on victimisation.

I also wanted us to build external relationships and engage with frontline policing staff too, so we spent time upskilling local policing and community teams in crime prevention measures and involving them in what we do.

What do you do now?

I now work across the National Police Chiefs' Council and College of Policing on their National Centre for Violence Against Women and Girls & Public Protection (NCVPP) Programme. 

Specifically, I work in online harm and in the area of non-consensual use of sexual images. I help implement best practices, advise on changes in legislation and support police forces dealing with these types of cases.

We have created a new online reporting tool that provides victims with a single point of contact and automatically connects them with support services.

I’m also involved in producing a national VAWG toolkit for frontline police officers. It will include an AI-powered chatbot, giving officers immediate access to specific information on issues such as spiking, online harm, public protection, whilst directing them to relevant guidance and resources.

Recently I’ve been given the responsibility for looking at the DOCO response to tacking Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) nationally.

Have you taken any of your skills as a DOCO with you in this new role?

I came to my new job with a crime prevention mindset, everything I work on now I see it through ‘crime prevention eyes’. I look at things in a different way and it’s about being proactive and reducing criminal opportunities from the outset.

I’ve also learnt from Police CPI about working at a national level to implement and create change. I’ve also learnt to bring in partners and the importance of working with industry, for example in my current role I often talk to Secured by Design member companies about their products or services that we could use to solve problems. There’s lots of cross overs in my old DOCO role to now.

Looking back on your career as a DOCO which projects are you most proud of?

I’m most proud of working on the SBD Sanctuary Scheme over the years. It’s a scheme that allows survivors of domestic abuse to stay in their homes by improving their security, this means they don’t have to move home or change their area to escape abuse or harassment.

It works by target hardening a home with extra layers of security, buying occupants time to reach a safe room and contact the police if necessary. It helps prevents incidents where an ex-partner forces entry, causing fear and distress for a woman and her children.

I really enjoyed these projects, but they were also always the most challenging. For example, trying to convince a local authority that, rather than spending £10,000 relocating a woman and her children to a new area, they could invest around £2,000 in security measures that allowed them to stay near friends, family and a support network and children to attend the same school without disruption.

I think we’ve protected hundreds of victims over the years, upwards to a thousand and I’m passionate about the scheme and its benefits. One victim who had been stalked said to me it’s the first time in 3 years she was able to sleep at night.

Working with Mark Dowse at Police CPI on this at a national level has been so rewarding and I’ve obviously taken it into my new role at the NCVPP.

To find out more about the scheme see here SBD Sanctuary Scheme.

To find out more about the National Centre for Violence Against Women and Girls & Public Protection (NCVPP) Programme see here.

In your role as a DOCO what’s the most unusual project you’ve worked on?

I would say it’s not one single development, but what comes to mind is probably the video doorbell project.

I had an idea that we should identify the top 10 areas in London most affected by crime and provide residents with reduced cost video doorbells to help tackle things like burglaries, vehicle crime etc.

After lots of discussions and overcoming numerous obstacles, we managed to secure some funding and even gained buy in from industry partners to supply a number of reduced cost doorbells. We also involved academic institutions to help us measure the outcomes. It was a big project.

But then Covid happened and everything changed. However, we did manage to install 1500 doorbells in randomised areas, and we have been collecting the data for these ever since.

The project is coming to an end soon, but it’s already proving to be a success. Academic studies have shown that burglaries in the areas have fallen by around a third, there has been a significant reduction in anti-social behaviour and vehicle crime. Research has also demonstrated that the installation of a video doorbell on the corner property of a cul-de-sac can benefit the wider street by increasing perceived vigilance and influencing offender behaviour. Studies further suggest that a visible presence of security on a house often encourages other residents to adopt similar technology themselves. This ripple effect helps improve security across the whole neighbourhood and contributes to creating safer communities.

The final data is being collated and will be presented, but it is an example of how a small crime prevention measure can change offender’s behaviour and communities’ sense of safety. This is the kind of project that could easily be scaled up to larger areas.

What advice would you give to new DOCOs?

I would say don’t try to pretend you’re an architect or a building expert, just be yourself. You have so much experience in crime prevention, you know about risk and harm, you know how criminals work. Don’t forget your skills and knowledge are invaluable.

When it comes to understanding the different standards, yes, they are important, but remember there are people out there to ask for advice. A shout out to Head of SBD and Safer Parking, Alfie Hosker, who has helped me out with lots of technical questions!

Building relationships with partners is also key, and don’t be frightened to go in there and talk at director or strategic level, if you are humble and explain what you want to achieve, you’ll find most people are bought into crime prevention.

Why is crime prevention important to you?

It sounds cliché, but crime prevention is fundamental, it’s the first rule of policing. Once harm has happened it’s so hard to take it away. Take a burglary affecting an elderly person, it can have such a huge impact on their feelings of safety, wellbeing and mental health. You can’t take victimisation away and prevention is immeasurable.

Designing Out Crime is such a great area of policing, it’s so rewarding and too little is known about the work that we do.

What did you enjoy about being a DOCO?

I joined the police to make a difference, and I didn’t think I did until I became a DOCO. I saw that every job and project I worked on made a difference and this impact was wide too, some of the large projects I worked on had an impact across London to improve communities and neighbourhoods.

What don’t most people know about you?

A few people might know, but I’m a swimming coach; it’s my passion.

I volunteer for 10 hours a week teaching kids between 9-13 years old to compete at a regional level for our swimming club.

I used to be a swimmer myself - it’s so rewarding!

Well done again David, we will leave you with some final words from your old team...

The NE London Designing Out Crime Office would like to recognise David for his contribution to his team, Designing Out Crime and the Community of London. He has been an inspiration & a mentor to us all and is missed by his unit now he has moved to his National Role.

Protecting victims/survivors of domestic abuse

Established in 1998, the SBD Sanctuary Scheme helps survivors of domestic abuse remain safely in their own homes, close to their support networks and local community roots.

Developed collaboratively by police crime prevention specialists, security installers, and the Fire and Rescue Service, the scheme installs practical, layered home security and dedicated safe rooms to keep families safe while emergency help arrives. Formally backed by the National Police Chiefs’ Council and National Fire Chiefs’ Council, it serves as a recognised accommodation-based support model under the Domestic Abuse Act 2021.

Learn more at https://www.securedbydesign.com/initiatives/sanctuary-scheme