From digitising defendants to preserving peakies, one records manager’s journey into heritage

Corinne Brazier was the first ever records manager of West Midlands Police, from 2007 to 2016, a time when the police service as a whole was recognising the value of good records management, and how it was key to effective policing. After creating a team of information assurance officers to extend the records management remit from policies to audit, data quality and information security, Corinne started to look at historic records and the risk they posed. Eventually moving into a role looking at relaunching the force’s police museum, Corinne is now the force’s first Heritage Manager, running the largest and most accessible police museum in the country. After setting up a National Police Heritage Portfolio, she is now back in contact with Records Management colleagues to help address issues of permanent archiving and retention, and showing how much heritage has in common with records management.

Key takeaways/learning:
–          A look at how to deal with historic records, risks and benefits
–          What next after records management, identifying key skills and experiences that can help you transition into a new role
–          Why heritage? Benefits to an organisation that embraces and utilises its heritage
–          Learning from my experiences of moving into another new field, securing funding and organisational buy-in, setting up a national portfolio and continuing to learn and develop