28 March 2011

Professor Nick Fyfe to advise Violence Reduction Unit

A University of Dundee academic has been appointed to advise an organisation tasked with combatting violence in Scotland.

Professor Nick Fyfe, Director of the Scottish Institute for Policing Research (SIPR), based at the University, is one of four researchers who were invited to join the Violence Reduction Unit’s Academic Advisory Panel.

The VRU is a national centre of expertise seeking to reduce violent behaviour across Scotland. The Panel will meet twice a year to advise on new research in the field of violence reduction and report on how this might translate into workable strategies with the potential to make a real impact in Scotland.

Professor Fyfe said it was essential that the VRU had access to as wide a range of research evidence as possible to enable it to reduce rates of violence.

'The Academic Advisory Panel will be able to identify opportunities for research into violence reduction and help facilitate the rigorous evaluation of initiatives and interventions,' he said.

'There is already a large amount of research into violence in Scotland - such as the evaluation of the Community Initiative to Reduce Violence in Glasgow and work on gangs and knife carrying in Scottish cities - and it is important that this evidence base is integrated with the work of practitioners and the policy community.

'The role of the panel is to help develop further an evidence-based approach to crime reduction and to provide a robust base that will tell us what works, what is cost effective and what partnerships are most effective in tackling violent behaviour.'

Part funded by the Scottish Government, the VRU targets violence in all its forms - from violence on the streets and domestic abuse to bullying in schools and the workplace.

Professor Fyfe will be joined on the Panel by academics from across Scotland. He was invited to join the group as a result of his work with SIPR, a strategic collaboration between 12 Scottish universities and the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS).

Funded by the Scottish Funding Council and ACPOS, SIPR offers a range of opportunities for conducting relevant, applicable research to help the police meet the challenges of the 21st century and for achieving international excellence for policing research in Scotland.

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