Alison Wakefield has been in the top four influencers on the Ifsec Global ‘Top 50 Most Influential People in Security’ for the past three years in a row. She has been a finalist in the ‘Women in Security’ Awards in 2015 and 2016, as well as being awarded the ‘Lord Imbert Prize’ by the Association of Security Consultants this year. She holds a B.A. (Hull) and M.Phil Ph.D (Cambridge) and is also a Fellow of the Security Institute.

Alison is Senior Lecturer in Security Risk Management at the University of Portsmouth, where she is course leader of the BSc Risk and Security Management and the Professional Doctorate in Security Risk Management.

She has also served as Vice Chairman of the Security Institute since 2015, and as a board Director since 2010. Previously she was a Director with the International Institute of Security from 2004 prior to its merger with the Security Institute in 2008. Alison chaired the Institute’s Academic Board at the point of the launch of its qualifications in 2010 and the Knowledge Centre in 2013, and has remained at the forefront of research and personal professional development of individuals in the organisation.

In 2010-11 Alison chaired the Institute working party that devised the pathways to becoming a Chartered Security Professional, and she now serves as Academic Adviser to the Chartered Security Professionals Registration Authority.

Among Alison’s publications, she has authored Selling Security: The Private Policing of Public Space (Willan Publishing, 2003), which was shortlisted for the British Society of Criminology Book Prize 2003; and she is editor of The Sage Dictionary of Policing with Jenny Fleming (Sage, 2009) and Ethical and Social Perspectives on Situational Crime Prevention with Andrew von Hirsch and David Garland (Hart Publishing, 2000). Alison currently serves on the editorial boards of Security Journal and the Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice, and on the international advisory board of the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology. Alison was also Executive Secretary of the British Society of Criminology from 2004 to 2008.

Alison shared a few words on her appointment, saying, “I am extremely honoured to be appointed Chairman of the Security Institute, the UK’s largest association of security practitioners and increasingly the pre-eminent voice of the security profession. Today’s uncertain political and economic landscape presents significant challenges, but also great opportunities as people and organisations look to our profession to help them manage uncertainty. We will continue to champion and support the professional development of our members, promote awareness of the important role that is played by the security sector, and seek to consolidate the Institute’s standing in the security community, industry and government.”

Garry Evanson, outgoing Chairman also commented, saying, “I am delighted that Alison will in January take the reins of Chairman and continue to shape the Security Institute as the leading security membership body at a time when the challenges in the security landscape are at their greatest for many years. She is a professional of the highest order and her collegial approach will ensure that the Institute goes from strength to strength. She has proven herself in many and varied arenas not least as Institute Vice Chairman and I congratulate her on her election and wish her and the Institute well for the future!”