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Challenges
- Over 740 cyber-enabled crimes reported to Durham Police every quarter
- Potential underreporting masking a more significant volume of incidents
- Increasing awareness of online exploitation, including grooming, extremism, radicalisation, and sexual offences
Approach
They developed a holistic approach to address online crime and harm, including extremism, focusing on raising awareness, reducing risk to vulnerable groups, and building resilience against online radicalisation and cyber-crime.
Formed a dedicated cyber-enabled crime sub-group to manage response and developed an action plan with three main objectives:
- Raising awareness about online safety in the general population
- Reducing risk to the most vulnerable groups
- Building resilience of local businesses against cyber crime threats
Implemented community engagement initiatives, including:
- Interactive workshops (for example ‘Cyber Lego’ game)
- Partnership with New College Durham for awareness sessions and student-created educational content.
- Exploration of innovative tools like Virtual Reality headsets
- Integrated cyber security work with ‘prevent training’ and ‘channel panel’ support
- Focused on preventative activities and awareness raising across multiple disciplines
Outcomes and benefits
- Over 1,000 Durham residents engaged with the Friends Against Scams initiative
- Approximately 200 staff and students participated in cyber safety activities at New College Durham
- Positive survey results indicating increased awareness and behaviour changes
- Enhanced monitoring and specialized interventions for online radicalisation cases
- Improved cross-family and network sharing of cyber safety skills
Lessons learnt
- Community engagement is crucial for program success
- Peer-to-peer communication of key messages is highly effective
- Narrowing focus to high-vulnerability themes and sectors ensures efficient resource allocation
- Incorporating fun elements in engagement activities increases participation
- Sustainability achieved through core partnership budgets rather than relying on external funding
- Innovative approaches in non-traditional areas can yield positive results for community safety partnerships