One of the speakers lined up for the East Sussex Against Scams Partnership (ESASP) Charter Event is Bernadette Lawrie BEM.
Read more about Bernadette Lawrie BEM area of expertise.
Bernadette joined Sussex Police 17 years ago and has worked in a variety of roles including training as a Detective, prior to becoming the force’s first Financial Abuse Safeguarding Officer working within the Economic Crime Unit.
In November 2010 she visited a chronic victim of mass marketing fraud, aged 94, who had lost over £100,000. Bernadette identified that Sussex Police had no processes in place to protect such victims from repeat targeting and there was a significant lack of awareness and understanding of the crime type and victim profile both locally and across the UK.
Bernadette campaigned to introduce a standardised process to identify, support and protect vulnerable victims of fraud. This process, known as Operation Signature has been successfully implemented across Sussex, Surrey and several other Police forces.
In April 2017 Operation Signature was approved by the National Police Chiefs Council as best practice and is now being implemented by forces across the country.
In November 2017 she won the NPCC (National Police Chiefs' Council) Excellence in Fraud Policing Award at the Serious and organised Crime Exchange (SOCEX) Fraud Conference for her work.
In December 2018 she was recognised in the Queens New Year’s Honours list and was awarded the British Empire Medal for her services to Policing through the introduction of Operation Signature.
Bernadette continues to expand Operation Signature both locally and nationally by working with key stakeholders and financial institutions to better protect and safeguard vulnerable victims of fraud.
