Police CPI interviewed Danii Wohler – the Designing out Crime Officer (DOCO) of the year – Wohler discusses her expertise in the role, willingness to develop and desire to continually improve those around her.
I felt like I was having an out-of-body experience when I heard the nomination and received the award at ATLAS.
There were so many talented DOCOs in the room who have worked on bigger projects than me but my Sergeant Paul Griffiths wrote such lovely words about me.
He’s so supportive and empowers his whole team, he’s a great boss.
I started out as a 21-year-old behind the police enquiry desk in Lancashire and I’ve worked my way up doing various jobs over the last 19 years.
In my last role I was a supervisor and managed and oversaw the large and busy intelligence department which I loved.
HR then asked if I’d like to apply for the role of a DOCO.
I’d never even heard of the role before and it was totally out of my comfort zone but I went for it – and here I am, four years later.
I had so many questions when I first started and there was always something new to learn.
So I began compiling a document to record all my notes and updates and as I’m neurodiverse, having everything organised in one place really helped.
What began as my ‘Idiot’s Guide to being a DOCO’ has become an invaluable resource.
I now share it with the North West DOCO group I belong to and we all contribute to the working document which is now known as the ‘DOCO Bible’.
I am. At ATLAS 23’ Merseyside approached me and asked me to apply for a vacancy they had.
As it’s always been my dream to work in Liverpool I jumped at the chance – I love the city.
I’m still working with Lancs too, as I help support the DOCO there, Anna Baybutt, who is brilliant by the way.
I’m helping oversee a large project I started in early 2024, a £8.3m regeneration project and redevelopment of the Bacup Market -part of the Bacup 2024 Vision by Rossendale Borough Council.
As I was brought on in the early stages I was able to influence the architects and developers to commit to SBD Gold standard.
There’s an existing road that’s a challenge to ‘design out’ as it’s a thoroughfare that attracts criminal activity so Anna’s been working hard to ensure there are no blind spots and linking me in.
It’s a huge project but she’s doing a great job.
Yes, I was recently appointed as chair of the North West Designing out Crime group and we support each other with information, share best practices and tips.
In fact the biggest tip I would give to new DOCOs is to network with others.
You can’t learn everything on your own in isolation, it’s important to reach out to ask others and bounce ideas around.
We’re a group of about 20 in the North West but we also support a couple of colleagues from outside the area.
Graham Kavanagh operates as a one-man-band in An Garda Síochána, Ireland and Sarah Williams is from the Isle of Man.
I love partnership working – what I mean by that is building relationships.
For example, I was asked to comment on a park with an ongoing anti-social issue and drug dealing, I involved the local authority and other partners and together we have worked out a strategy.
It’s so important to work as one instead of operating in silos as it’s so much more effective.
I built strong working relationships with the 14 different local authorities in Lancashire, now my challenge is to do the same in Merseyside.
I’m working on a large regeneration project of Huyton Town Centre, Merseyside, known as ‘St Michaels Place’ which is part of Knowsley Borough Council’s 10 year development plan.
It’s sadly an area with a lot of organised crime, anti-social behaviour and social depravity.
More than seven acres of land with old council buildings will be demolished to be replaced with a hotel, commercial space and 72 new affordable apartments along with green spaces and community areas.
I’ve influenced the architects to commit to SBD Gold standards throughout.
I’ve also been instrumental in the design of the new green park space based on SBD principles and advice and guidance of Dr Anna Barker.
She advocates for green parks and spaces to be designed or made safer for women and girls, things like creating open areas, accessible community spaces, low hedges, lighting and CCTV.
Part of my job covered rural areas of East Lancashire and I’d sometimes get asked to comment on building and development of slurry stores – structures where farmers collect animal waste, it became a bit of a running joke in my team!
But the most unusual was a donkey store. You do get funny requests.
But one of my most memorable and interesting projects was conducting a security survey of the historic ruins of Clitheroe Castle in Lancashire.
Overlooking the town, it’s a well-preserved 12th century Norman keep, rumoured to have once been a jail housing King Henry VI during the War of the Roses.
It’s now a Grade II listed building but was originally built in Motte and Bailey style with what was described as a ‘strong and defensive structure’, has become a problematic hotspot for Local Policing teams due to anti-social behaviour, criminal damage and trespass issues.
I had to get my thinking cap on with this one and work closely with the Heritage Team at the local council to ensure any security measures were delivered in a sympathetic, reversible way, to prevent attacks by modern day means!
We talk about sustainability and removing opportunities for future crime as DOCO’s…but I don’t think anyone expects to have to come up with security strategies 800 years into the future!
Well…I’m actually in David Beckham’s memoir ‘David Beckham’ and feature as one of his fans.
I always pull this fun fact out when I have to introduce myself when I’m on a course – although I usually forget to mention it’s me and 10,000 other fans! We appear in a massive collage.
