Elected as Police and Crime Commissioner for Durham in May 2021, and re-elected in 2024, the PCC has since taken on a series of key national responsibilities to advocate for policing change.

Joy holds the title of Joint Lead for Addictions and Substance Misuse, Roads Policing and Transport, Finance, and Environment and Sustainability, on behalf of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners. She is also co-chair of the National Drugs Leadership Forum, responsible for tracking the progress of drug strategy priorities across England and Wales, and a Board Member of the national Victims’ Commissioner Advisory Group 2024-25, supporting the work of Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales, Baroness Newlove, to improve the experience of victims of crime in the criminal justice system.

In further strategic roles, Joy is Chair of the BlueLight Commercial Board and has contributed to the development of the policing decarbonisation programme for policing in England and Wales, alongside promoting Social Value principles across the policing landscape. She is also a Board member on the North East Business Resilience Centre, working in partnership with the sector as part of a determined effort to protect businesses from the risks of online fraud.

Detective Sergeant David Thomason created and leads the day to day operation of the Harm Reduction Unit at Cheshire Constabulary; a collaborative and integrated risk management service between police, the NHS and the Probation Service. The Harm Reduction Unit builds on the success of its predecessor, the Integrated Anti-Stalking Unit which David created and developed having spent over 16 years working at local, national and international levels to tackle stalking. David is a former trustee of the charity Protection Against Stalking which led the successful campaign for stalking law reform in England and Wales in 2012. David has trained thousands of professionals around the world in the policing of stalking and was previously a Staff Officer to the national police stalking lead. He remains a  member of the NPCC National Stalking Tactical Working Group. David has worked operationally as a detective in public protection for the majority of his service. In 2019, David was awarded the inaugural national College of Policing Award for Partnerships and is also the recipient of an Association of Chief Police Officers Presidential Commendation for his work on tackling stalking. David has played a pivotal role in the development of a revised national Stalking Screening Tool which has recently been evaluated on behalf of the College of Policing. More recently, David has made several media appearances including: “Murdered by my Stalker: Alice Ruggles” (Channel 5),  “Green Eyed Killers” (Crime and Investigation),  “Stacey Dooley: Stalkers” (BBC) and “Laura Whitmore Investigates: Cyberstalking” (ITV). David completed a post-graduate research degree in evidence-informed practice with Liverpool John Moores University, looking into the implementation and effectiveness of Stalking Protection Orders.

Saskia Garner is the Head of Policy and Campaigns at the Suzy Lamplugh Trust and has 20 years’ experience of policy and campaigning work across human rights and violence against women and girls. Her work covers research and policy advocacy across stalking, harassment, online harms, bystander intervention and workplace safety. Saskia leads on national campaigns including National Personal Safety Day, as well as the Trust’s consultancy work on lone worker policies and Suzy’s Charter for Workplace Safety. Saskia represents the Suzy Lamplugh Trust on a number of national stakeholder forums including those led by the National Police Chiefs Council, Victims’ Commissioners and The Partnership for Workplace Violence. She also leads on stalking policy work including national advocacy on systemic change within the criminal justice system, coordinating the National Stalking Consortium and National Stalking Awareness Week.

Katy has worked for the Multi Agency Stalking Partnership for 4 years, providing individual interventions for perpetrators of stalking, and consultations, risk assessments and training to probation and health services. Prior to this, she worked in the prison service delivering accredited interventions and risk assessments for the Parole board, as well as supporting the safer custody teams.

As a qualified therapist, Carl has combined his knowledge of effective treatment to facilitate behavioural change with his commercial experience of delivering interventions.

Working for the probation service for 15 years, including as a Deputy Chief Probation Officer designing and overseeing programme delivery, Carl’s experience includes managing contracts commissioned by Public Health, local authorities and police and crime commissioners.

Carl has also won national recognition through the Butler Trust for his work designing the UK’s first intervention for stalkers approved by the British Psychological Society. The programme works with perpetrators to address their obsessive and compulsive behaviours to prevent more people from becoming a victim of this crime.

With over 25 years of dedicated experience in the domestic abuse sector, Sarah Griffin leads the design and delivery of innovative community-based perpetrator intervention services. Her work focuses on supporting behaviour change, reducing harm and promoting healthier relationships. Most recently, Sarah spearheaded the development of pioneering stalking perpetrator intervention services in Essex and Hertfordshire.

Before joining The Change Project, Sarah spent 17 years with the probation service in Essex and London, where she managed accredited offending behaviour programmes and led a pan-London Independent Domestic Violence Advocate (IDVA) team. Her contribution to the rollout and implementation of domestic abuse perpetrator programmes was formally recognised with a High Sheriff’s Award.

Sarah is a specialist risk assessor, regularly undertaking expert reports on behalf of Family Courts in cases involving domestic abuse. She has extensive experience in cross-sector training and has successfully designed, developed, and mobilised a wide range of adult and youth services in both community and custodial settings.

Sarah is deeply committed to reducing risk to victims and survivors – including children – by addressing the root causes of abusive behaviour and stalking, and empowering individuals to build and sustain healthier relationships with others.

Emma Pickering is a dedicated professional, with extensive experience in the VAWG sector. Her career at Refuge began in 2017 when she joined as a MARAC coordinator within the Warwickshire service. Emma joined the Tech Abuse team in January 2018 at the beginning of the project. Currently the Head of Tech & Economic Abuse, Emma plays a pivotal role at Refuge.

Emma’s commitment to preventing technology-facilitated domestic abuse is evident in her pursuit of specialised training. She received Tech Abuse training from SafetyNet, and trained as an IRIS Advocate Educator. Her academic background, including a BA Honours degree in Working with Young People and Services from De Montfort University, and a Masters Degree in Understanding the Dynamics of Domestic and Sexual Violence from the University of Worcester, has equipped her with extensive knowledge of the complex issues surrounding domestic abuse. Emma is further exploring the subject, in ongoing PhD studies at Birmingham City University, titled “Evaluating the role of domestic homicide Technology-Facilitated Abuse and Domestic Homicide.”

During her time at university, Emma engaged in a project in The Gambia, actively working to end the practice of Female Genital Mutilation. This involved working with both victims and practitioners to educate and drive positive change.

As a Churchill Fellow, Emma is an advocate for survivors of technology-facilitated domestic abuse. Her expertise in the intersection of tech and economic abuse has equipped Emma in leading a team, who provide direct support to women and children facing these challenges. Emma manages external partnerships and stakeholders, collaborating closely with Refuge’s policy and fundraising teams to generate income and foster growth within her team. Additionally, Emma plays a crucial role in shaping legislative asks to improve responses for survivors of technology-facilitated abuse, leading to more positive outcomes within the VAWG sector.

With the growing reliance on technology in our daily lives, almost every activity carried out, leaves some form of digital footprint. Digital evidence is valuable when looking to solve crime, safeguard the public, locate vulnerable missing persons, prevent crime and identify witnesses, suspects, crimes scenes and other evidence. Digital evidence can include anything from social media, ring door bell, connected vehicles, personal fitness trackers, home smart devices, emails, GPS data, Wifi data, mobile phone call data, CCTV footage and many more.

DS Bryan Field presents a new plan for investigators to explore digital opportunities available during the golden hour of stalking investigations.