Meet the Team
The VRU team members are drawn from various partners across Kent and Medway.
Members of the VRU team have (but not limited too) experience and qualifications in crime investigation and intelligence, youth offending, adolescent early help and family support, youth work, education inclusion and attendance, data analysis and project management.
Below you can meet our team and find out a bit more about each team member:
Beckee Barton
ANALYST
"I joined Kent Police as an Intelligence Analyst straight out of university. I was very briefly an analyst for the Knife and Firearms Team and then joined the VRU in November 2019. My work includes analysis of a wide range of intelligence, statistics and information from a range of partner agencies as well as police data.
Claire Read
ANALYST TEAM LEADER
"I have worked for Kent Police for over 30 years, with at least 20 years of analytical experience across various themes. In more recent years my roles have involved partnership working and using a collaborative approach in analysis to identify strategic and tactical aims with a focus on the vulnerability or criminality of young people".
EMMA CLARK
SERIOUS VIOLENCE DUTY CO-ORDINATOR
"I have worked for Kent Police for over 20 years. I have operational knowledge and experience in different roles across the force including crime management, being an investigator and a team manager. All of my roles have involved working with partner agencies, using a collaborative approach to tackle the issues faced."
Sharon McCauley
VRU CO-ORDINATOR - MEDWAY & SWALE
"I have been seconded to the VRU from Medway Youth Service where I have been a youth worker for 19 years. My last 5 years was as a senior youth worker running a youth hub, outreach and detached programmes. Part of my original role was about building partnership work and I have been able to carry this experience over to the VRU. The voice of the child is extremely important to me and I want to give them every possible opportunity in life to raise their aspirations."
CALEY WALDEN
VRU CO-ORDINATOR SOUTH KENT
"I have worked for Kent Police for over 17 years in various roles but by far the most challenging and rewarding role was working directly with families and young people who came to the attention of the Police. This involved engaging, challenging behaviours, diverting and seeing them back into education or work. I bring knowledge and experience from my work with me into this VRU Co-ordinator role which is the perfect tool to help enhance a collaborative, creative approach to tackle issues, educating young people and creating positive change."
Sharon Taylor
VRU CO-ORDINATOR EAST KENT
"I have worked for Kent Police for 20 years across a variety of roles. I started my career managing victim and witness care and signposting support. For the last ten years, I worked with partner agencies and community services to locate and safeguard missing persons and to support young people who have been exploited or who were at risk of harm in the community. My experience of problem solving and innovating initiatives to shape a safer community has been invaluable in my VRU Co-ordinators role in Violence Reduction Unit."
Gary Painter
VRU CO-ORDINATOR NORTH KENT
"I have worked for Kent Police since 2007 as a Police Community Support Officer, Supervisor, Police Officer and I am currently now a Police Staff member working as a VRU Co-ordinator. I have spent most of career directly involved in community safety and partnership agency roles, working alongside district councils, Early Help, Social Workers, Youth Justice Workers and various charities. All of which has been aimed at supporting young people in the community, finding ways to keep people safe and giving them the best chance to have a positive future."
Emma Price
VRU CO-ORDINATOR WEST KENT
"I am from KCC PRU, Inclusion and Attendance Service where I was previously an Education Welfare Officer before becoming an Inclusion and Attendance Advisor. I am well versed in multi-agency working to support children and young people access school to realise their potential whilst addressing familial and extra-familial harm. I have County-wide responsibility of school-based initiatives across the County, to test new approaches which may enhance pupil's resilience and aspirations whilst supporting staff to recognise root causes of behaviours for cultural change."
Susanne Blenkinsopp
PROGRAMME OFFICER
"I am relatively new to Kent Police, taking up the post of Administrative Assistant to the VRU . I am currently covering the maternity posting of Programme Officer. My previous roles have all been in the education sector, providing secretarial and administration support to Schools and Colleges throughout Kent, County Durham and Belgium. I intend to use my great organisational skills to help enhance and optimise the role of VRU Programme Officer".
Mark Powell
KENT COUNTY COUNCIL - VRU DIRECTOR
"I began my career working with charities supporting those who needed housing for 9 years before joining the Youth Justice service in Kent County Council. I have held various youth justice posts including team and strategic development managerial roles and worked at Cookham Wood YOI for 2 years. I was also part of Early Help services between 2013 – 2017 and helped to design services and improve how children were prevented from being harmed. In 2012 I completed a Masters in Business Management which focussed on partnership working."
CH/INSPECTOR Lara Connor
KENT POLICE - VRU DIRECTOR
"I have over 22 years experience working for Kent Police. I started off as a Police Officer working out in the community and progressed onto a number of operational roles, mainly working in front line roles including working within community safety units in some of the busiest areas of Kent. I really enjoy working with partnership agencies and have a personal passion for problem solving and working towards long term solutions which can help to make our communities a safer place to live and work."