Celebrating Sarah: A Royal Seal of Approval for Local Innovation
On Wednesday, May 6th, the gates of Buckingham Palace opened for a Royal Garden Party, welcoming a guest whose work has quietly reshaped the safety landscape of Brighton. Sarah Morris, the Daytime Intelligence Manager and Safeguarding Lead for the Brighton Crime Reduction Partnership (BCRP), attended the event following a prestigious nomination by Sussex Police, a testament to over a decade of dedication to her city.
Sarah’s story at the BCRP is one of remarkable professional growth. Starting over ten years ago in an administrative role, she quickly developed a passion for frontline advocacy. She wanted to ensure that Brighton’s businesses had a loud, clear voice at the table where decisions about crime and anti-social behavior (ASB) are made. Today, Sarah is recognised as a strategic architect of community safety, moving the partnership from reactive reporting to proactive intervention.
Working alongside Sussex Police, Sarah was instrumental in developing Operation Apprentice, a project that has become the bedrock of the BCRP’s retail crime strategy. By bridging the gap between enforcement and community support, it focuses on high-priority offenders causing the most harm to local stores.
Intelligence-Led Action: Sarah oversees the bi-weekly Business Intelligence Meetings (BIM), where the BCRP, police, and support services use DISC data to identify hotspots.
The Results: From recovering stolen property at Forbidden Planet to securing three-year Criminal Behaviour Orders (CBOs) for repeat offenders on St James’s Street, Op Apprentice has delivered tangible relief and safety to city staff.
Read more about Op Apprentice, here.
"Knowing I have the support of the BCRP... has without a doubt helped us with driving down crime... It makes my team feel supported to a level that not many other areas could say." —Stuart Reaks, Operations Manager at the Co-Op
While Op Apprentice handles the immediate impact of retail crime, Sarah’s most profound and unique achievement is the Early Intervention Youth Plan. This project was born from her refusal to accept a cycle she witnessed for years: children involved in shoplifting being exploited and becoming "entrenched" in the justice system.
Sarah immersed herself in child safeguarding, forging unprecedented relationships with businesses, local schools and youth teams. Her plan reframes youth crime as a safeguarding issue, identifying at-risk children early and referring them to services that assist both the child and the parent. This innovative approach has been hailed by the city as a key tool in preventing child exploitation and has significantly reduced youth-related.
Read more about our Early Intervention Youth Plan, here.
“Sarah has tenaciously brought partners together to improve how we work towards common goals, achieving excellent results.” — Philippa Peacock, Lead Practitioner (Youth Justice)
The invitation to Buckingham Palace is a significant milestone, marking Sarah as a leading figure in UK business crime reduction. While the day was a celebration of her individual tenacity, it was also a moment of immense pride for the entire team at the BCRP. To her colleagues, Sarah is more than a manager; she is the heart of their mission.
We are all incredibly proud to see Sarah’s hard work recognised in such a prestigious way. She has spent years working tirelessly behind the scenes to make Brighton safer for everyone. To see her standing at Buckingham Palace is a win for her, a win for the BCRP, and a win for the city she cares so much about.
As Sarah stood in the Palace gardens, she represented a decade of tireless work. Her transition from an administrative assistant to a Royal-recognised innovator serves as an inspiration to her peers and a testament to what passion and partnership can achieve.
Sarah has been a constant ally to the Brighton business community for well over a decade, and we know many of you have seen her tenacity firsthand. On behalf of the whole BCRP team and our city-wide members, we’d like to say a huge thank you to Sarah for everything she does. Please join us in raising a glass to our very own ‘Royal’ guest. An achievement that couldn’t be more well-deserved.