Jonathan Asser

Yet HMP Wandsworth shut SVI down the day following my announcement that the police were coming in. Why? The official reason given didn't add up. youtube.com/watch?v=F-3xqz… #Prisons #PrisonSafety #SVI #StarredUp #BACP

And it was so successful, main players even volunteered to engage with top police and the police felt safe enough to come in and reciprocate!!

This one really brings it home for me. I started as a teacher in prison. Violent prisoners then began to volunteer to come to the discussion sessions I ran and that’s how SVI began.

Time to rethink prison safety: not just with more force, but with evidence. #ShameViolence #PrisonSafety #SVI #CriminalJustice #ViolencePrevention

With violence rising and talk of arming officers, ignoring evidence-based work like SVI makes no sense. If something works in violent environments, it should be a starting point — not a casualty.

bbc.co.uk/news/articles/… The government is investing more in specialist teams to tackle serious violence. But years ago, there was Shame/Violence Intervention (SVI), which maximised prisoner involvement — enabling violent prisoners at HMP Wandsworth to come safely together.

#ShameViolence #PrisonSafety #SVI #CounterTerrorism #Police #HMPWandsworth

Why did they shut SVI down on hearing of the major breakthrough that top cops were coming into the jail to sit down with its most challenging inmates at the top of the violence pyramid? Unbelievable.

theguardian.com/society/2025/j… Amid calls to arm prison officers, it’s worth remembering: back in 2011, SVI was so successful at HMP Wandsworth, it brokered a meeting in the prison mosque between the jail’s main players and senior police.

@ShipleyWrites Profound. Yet again, based on inside experience, @ShipleyWrites is bang on point.

It's a really good thing the Lord Timpson is taking organised crime seriously. He's absolutely right that these groups have corrupted officers. But the rot doesn't stop with frontline staff, and a serious counter corruption effort needs to look at governor grade misconduct too.

@ShipleyWrites Coffee sounds great. 👍

Off to Cambridge for a couple of days - if anyone fancy a coffee / chat / beer let me know

open.spotify.com/episode/6nX4nO… Masterful stuff.

The next breakthrough? SVI even managed to create an opportunity for open dialogue and building of trust between top violent offenders and senior police— unprecedented, extraordinary, but true. But when HMP Wandsworth saw success, they suddenly shut it down. Why?

Prison concentrates dangerous people. Violence results. But then the system just passes it down the line – to the next prison, or to the outside – by keeping the perpetrators apart. In SVI, we brought people together safely to squash the beef, preventing further violence later.