Murder at PortoBeach:

Office 8Members: Ben Sheppard, Sam Louis, Mohammed Choudhury, Addison Owsley, Laura Moss, Heather Cooper, Samaira Anjum, Mahwish Rana and Aurélle Delerme

Office Eight Report

The purpose in this report is to coherently and succinctly present the integral points of the investigation into the recent spate of the gang and drug related murders in PortoBeach.

This will be inclusive of an outline and key findings from the main areas:

Gathering of intelligence Teams involved in the investigation Community Links Press Communication Individual Officer Contributions

Investigation Week OneGathering Intelligence

By the end of week one the entire group had written a little bit about themselves on the team member page, putting forward their strengths which they feel could benefit the group.

There was a vast range of case studies uploaded: from a public shooting of a well known gang member; to the domestic killing of an infant. The analysis of these cases highlighted a number of issues to consider when later conducting work for PortoBeach.

Within the first week the group also began discussions on the five victim profiles, whether they should all be related and if so in what way. This discussion was continued and finalised much later on in the project.

The Senior Investigation Officer was Ben Sheppard

Key Findings: Week One

The key skills exercised in week one were: Taking the initiative to allocate ourselves in teams that would suit

our skills best Getting to know our fellow team members and co-ordinate

ourselves into working as a team

The murder victims were found to have these characteristics: All murder victims had some sort of connection with gangs All of them were male and their ages ranged from young to

middle aged.

Investigation Week TwoThe Investigation Team

Senior Investigating Officer: Ben Sheppard

Information Team: Sam Louis, Mohammed Choudhury and Addison Owsley

Evidence Team: Laura Moss, Heather Cooper, Samaira Anjum and Mahwish Rana

Public/Media Information Team: Ben Sheppard and Aurélle Delerme

Key Findings:Week Two

The statistical analysis of data found: The 2009 PortoBeach murder rate 3.82 is higher than Scotland (1.9) and E & W

(1.37) yet lower than Florida (6.21). While Apr – Sep 2009 does show a slight increase from Apr – Sep 2008 there is

currently not enough information to say with certainty that the rate is increasing.

There were 64 murders in PortoBeach (Jan – Sep 2009), the majority occurred in ‘Outdoor Public Space’ and ‘Car park’ – areas where gangs are likely to congregate.

How the team responded to budget cuts and a new murder: Promotion of community based programmes which can help target problem

areas – e.g.. Special Constables Drawing attention of councils to areas which would benefit from improved

lighting. Use of ‘police hotspots’ to effectively deploy available forces. Continue and improve community links to address gang cultures and make the

community more comfortable in approaching the police.

Investigation Week ThreeCommunity Links

In this week of the project each member of the group gathered information on what is meant by vigilantism to the authority of the police. After each member submitted their separate answers, it was condensed into one solid group answer.

The members then gathered information about organisations within their own locations that would or might have the resources to get involved in raising the profile of police efforts in relation to the crimes discussed in week one.

Community links:Glasgow

Turning Point Scotland – Glasgow Drug Crisis Centre: This organization provides several techniques to aid in tackling

substance misuse including detox, education and counselling. Contact: Glasgow Drugs Crisis Centre, 123 West Street, Glasgow, G5

8BA

The Serious Organised Crime Agency: This agency is used in order to eradicate serious organised crime threats

within the UK. Contact: Serious Organised Crime Agency, PO Box 8000, London,

SE11 5EN. Tel: 0370 496 7622

Community links:Florida

Florida Gang Reduction Strategy: This agency helps to tackle both social and criminal problems concerning

youth and gang crime. Contact: Florida Gang Reduction Strategy, c/o Attorney General of Florida,

The Capitol PL-01, Tallahassee, FL32399.

Panhandle Crime Stoppers: This organisation helps witnesses who come forward discretely if they wish

to disclose any information anonymously. They have a TV station where they react to unsolved crime.

Contact: For more information about Crime Stoppers contact the Community Services Division at (850) 747-4700 ext. 2300. http://www.floridacrimestoppers.org

Community links:Manchester

Manchester Youth Offending Service (YOS): This organisation works with other agencies such as the police,

probation and health services to address the offending behaviour of children and young people in Manchester.

Contact: Albert Square, Room 9030, Town Hall Extension, Manchester, M60 2LA; Tel 0161 2344564.

Manchester Multi Agency Gang Service (MMAGS): This organisation assesses and tackles the problems of street gangs

involved in firearms. Contact : Pauline Newman – Director Children’s Services – 0161

2323804 email: Pauline.newman@manchester.gov.uk  

Key Findings:Week Three

In week three as a group we were asked to find community organisations or links that would help solve and reduce the violence and murders in PortoBeach. Team members from each region reported back with a number of different organisations.

By researching different organisations within our own areas, as a group we were able to determine a range of different community links that we felt were relevant to the problem we were tackling in PortoBeach. We found several organisations that can help reduce gang activity, anti-social behaviour and murders. As a group we noticed that in some regions there were more organisations in place to tackle violence than in others. Following are two organisations which we could adapt to our project.

Key Findings:Week Three

Violence Reduction Unit: Community Initiative to Reduce Violence: This organisations play an important role in helping to reduce the chance of

moral panics within PortoBeach and the fear of its residents. It helps reduce violent crimes currently occurring by taking community initiative and engaging the community. By engaging the community, they will feel involved in helping to reduce crime. The purpose of this organisation is to tackle gang culture by using ex-gang members to give the community, young people and family members of victims an insight of what it is like being in a gang, how dangerous a gang can be and why it is wrong to be a part of a gang.

This organisation is important because by engaging the community it will help the police and other Criminal Justice bodies to effectively tackle crime.

For more details contact: CIRV on 0141 276 7465 or alternatively please email CIRV@strathclyde.pnn.police.uk

Key Findings:Week Three

Manchester Multi-Agency Gang Service (MMAGS): This agency is relevant to the problems we face in PortoBeach and will help to

reduce murders by tackling the problems of street gangs as the service predominantly focuses on: changing and challenging the behaviour associated with gang culture and working with families and individuals to develop strategies to eradicate gang culture. It engages with local, national and a range of agencies to encourage gang members out of gang involvement.

MMAGS also works with young people who have been convicted and sentenced. This organisation is important in relation to PortoBeach because it takes a multi-

agency approach to reducing crimes and, subsequently, murders by helping ex-offenders to reform and finding and putting a stop to the root cause of gang culture. It will be particularly helpful because young people will be educated by ex-gang members and will therefore deterred from gang involvement in the future.

For more details please contact: Pauline Newman – Director Children’s Services on 0161 2323804 or alternatively email: Pauline.newman@manchester.gov.uk  

Investigation Week Four Press Release

During week four, all information that was collected during previous weeks was compiled into a press release for the public. Statistical data, victim reports and community information and links were all used to produce a successful press release to the community.

The press release was formatted and each member of the team contributed in informative data and editing format, until we were all pleased with the final release to the public.

The main goal of the press release was to provide accurate information to the public, suppress moral panic, and provide answers to the many public questions.

Key Findings:Week Four

Between group members, different drafts were submitted and after some opinions and suggestions for editing were made, the group decided which aspects were the most important and needed to be most highlighted within the press release.

The group agreed that the press release needed to outline to the residents of PortoBeach that crime is stable and at it’s lowest point ever. The group also agreed that the public needed to be reassured that police and local authorities are working diligently to tackle the problem of gang culture in the area, taking a multi-agency approach in order to be most effective.

The final press release can be found here: http://office8.pbworks.com/Final-Press-Release

Senior Investigating Officer: Ben Sheppard

Also a member of Public/Media Information team acting as Public Information Officer (PIO)

Main contributions: Coordinating communication between the group and the PC Splitting up the tasks within the group Making the final decisions based on the groups discussions Trying to get the ball rolling in a number of tasks to try and improve timeliness

Trying to split up the work between the group and make sure it was all coordinated in time for the Sunday deadline was arguably my biggest challenge.

Delegation has been a skill I have improved on the most in my opinion. My team work and leadership skills, I feel, have also improved from this piece of work. These will help both in future employment as well as in team sports. This is also my first time working on an online project, so I now have an insight into what they are like.

Information Team:Sam Louis

Public Information Coordinator (PIC)

Main Contributions: Engaging in tasks thoroughly.

Collecting information on murders in Hull.

Offering help with grammar and spelling errors.

Challenges: Ensuring work is completed on time and to a good standard

Understanding the format to PB Works

Skills Acquired: Going through a certain task for longer than needed in order to understand what is needed

To be able to communicate better in order to help the group as a whole

Information Team:Mohammed Choudhury

Public Information Coordinator (PIC)

Main Contributions: Gathering and analysis of murder and violent crime statistics in Florida.

Gathering of Community Links information in Manchester.

Contributing to office discussions .

Challenges: Contributing timely and effectively for the benefit of the group.

Communicating appropriately and efficiently in a virtual office environment.

Skills Acquired: To research quickly and efficiently.

Communicating with other in other countries through the virtual office environment.

Working effectively in a team.

Carrying out set tasks.

Information Team:Addison Owsley

Public Information Researcher (PIR)

Evidence Team: Laura Moss

Evidence Disclosure Officer (EDO)

Main contributions: Providing research/detailed answers every week. Contributing to group discussion and offering suggestions to improve group

work. Trying to tidy up some areas of the wiki in the final week. Putting together and editing the final PowerPoint.

I would say one of the biggest challenges was trying to get the whole group to communicate and contribute to work and meeting the deadlines to make it easier for the SIO to put our work together for the Police Chief.

Probably the most important skill I have acquired/improved would be the ability to work effectively within a team, which will obviously be important for my future, working and communicating with other people all the time.

Evidence Team: Heather Cooper

Evidence Disclosure Officer (EDO)Main Contributions: Gathering and analysis of murder and violent crime statistics in Porto Beach and Scotland. Gathering of Community Links information in Glasgow and Florida. Editing of the Statistical Information to incorporate Police Chief advice. Editing of community links information. Contributing to office discussions on the evidence and how the investigation is

progressing. Challenges:

Contributing timely and effectively for the benefit of the group. Communicating appropriately and effectively in a virtual office environment.

Skills Acquired: Working effectively in a team where I do not have a leading role. Working in a virtual office environment – such offices are becoming increasingly

common and this experience will be an asset in that respect.

Evidence Team:Samaira Anjum

Statistical Analyst (SA)

Main Contributions: Provided statistical material in an effective and professional manner

Provided media coverage of cases

Interacted in group discussions

Identified areas, hotspots , clues which could lead to an effective investigation

Contributed towards the press release

The biggest challenge I faced was keeping up with current affairs on this wiki site as I am not a regular user of the internet and I did not check regularly enough.

During this experience I have picked up various skills such as: analysis skills, the ability to research online, sharing academic texts and resources, learning from one another and helping out as part of a team.

One of the skills I have acquired during this project is time management skills to meet deadlines, and just generally built up my communication skills and enhanced my teamwork skills.

Evidence Team: Mahwish Rana

Geographic Information Analyst (GIA)

Main Contributions: Contributing to weekly group discussions and offering opinions on matters to make

team work more effective such as organizing to split work with other team members to ease the workload.

Making contributions in attempting to answers set out by the weekly muster reports.

Tidying up week and synchronising the answers to muster report 6 part 1 and muster report 8.

One of the biggest challenges was to try sticking to the team roles we were allocating and making everyone contribute appropriately. At times, it felt like some team members were participating and contributing more than others which would get frustrating.

This project has helped me improve my communication skills especially as working online with people I have never met; it was definitely a worthy experience. It has improved my ability to work as a team member even more and has taught me how to take initiative, and to take matters in my own hands when needed and to appreciate time management.

Public/Media Information Team: AurélleDelerme

Public Information Officer (PIO)

Main Contributions: Providing research data in a timely manner.

Assisting in editing for grammar and fluency.

Interacting in group discussions.

Challenges: One of the largest challenges was to have effortless communication with team members in

other countries, especially with time deadlines as our times are quite different. Also, having to take time away meant that it was difficult to get in contact with the rest of the group.

Skills Acquired: New skills that I have acquired are the ability to research effectively and learn to

communicate and work with different people all working towards one common goal.