On Friday 8th March 2013, Dame Anne Owers gave the Girton College Founders' Memorial Lecture, at Girton College, Cambridge. Dame Anne Owers brings a wealth of experience in the criminal justice system to this lecture. Appointed Chair of the Independent Police Complaints Commission in February 2012, she offers an engaging insight to her new and challenging role. Previously HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, Anne had remit that included inspections of prisons, immigration removal centres and police custody. She chaired an independent review of the prison system in Northern Ireland. She is currently an non-executive director of the Criminal Cases Review Commission and holds a number of voluntary roles, mainly in the area of penal policy and activity. Drawing on this experience, Anne provides an engaging insight into the role and importance of independent oversight of places of detention and the interaction between the police and the public: why it exists, what it can achieve and how it has helped to improve the work and accountability of these vital, but sometimes unseen services.