Northumbria University’s world-leading expertise in policing showcased in seminar series

Northumbria University’s Police Research and Education Network is bringing together expertise from across the institution for a unique seminar series.

Each session features academic staff presenting their research findings on key topics for contemporary policing and reflecting on the challenge of developing evidence based education for police practice. The seminars are informal and designed to promote debate between academics, practitioners from the Police and other relevant agencies.

The latest in the series, International Criminal Justice Cooperation and the Implications for Cross Border Policing, takes place at 5pm tonight at City Campus East in the Business and Law Building. Adam Jackson, Professor Tim Wilson, Dr Mohamed Badar, and Gemma Davies, from the Northumbria Centre for Evidence and Criminal Justice Studies (NCECJS) at Northumbria Law School will lead tonight’s seminar. This session will draw on the research of NCECJS members to identify the key mechanisms of international criminal justice cooperation that assist with the policing of cross border crime and will try to identify future challenges and potential solutions. The seminar series launched at the end of September with an excellent event led by Professor Pam Davies, Associate Professor Ruth Lewis and Professor Mike Rowe.

Associate Professor Sarah Soppitt, Head of Department for Social Sciences, said: “The police seminar series is a celebration of the excellence in evidence based policing research at Northumbria University.

“The research by Professor Pam Davies clearly articulates the challenges for the policing of domestic violence and how Northumbria Police is developing innovative methods and approaches in this arena.

“In the first seminar in September, Associate Professor Ruth Lewis and Professor Mike Rowe presented their highly innovative and valuable research, based on a national survey and interviews with people who experienced abuse when participating in feminist debate online and the extent to which online abuse is an extension of violence against women in the real world. Both of these research projects highlight how academics at Northumbria University are developing research that is promoting real change in the policing arena, and those affected by criminal activity.”

Speaking about his seminar with colleagues Ruth Lewis and Pam Davies, Professor Rowe added: “Colleagues at Northumbria outlined just a few projects from an extensive body of research we’ve done exploring a range of issues of domestic abuse and gendered violence, paying particular attention to ways to develop more effective responses from police and other agencies.

“Three key issues formed our focus: first, the extent to which it is possible to develop early identification and interventions to address perpetrator behaviour, second, how gendered abuse operates online, and what this means for police and partner agencies, and thirdly, how do we identify successful innovative practice and ensure that it can be effectively deployed more widely.

“Our work reflects many years of engagement around these important issues and we have worked with police locally, nationally and internationally to help develop good practice in response to significant social and criminal challenges.”

The next seminar in the series will take place on November 15 on campus and will see Sophie Carr from Forensic Science reflecting on the challenges of the role, status and accreditation of experts within the court system, which are subject to increasing debate. For the full list of the University’s Police Seminar series click here.

Northumbria has been assessed as world-leading and internationally-excellent for its research in evidence-based policing, with outstanding breadth and depth of expertise for the teaching and research of contemporary policing across the University. Our work is informing policy and practice, provides wide-ranging, cutting-edge science and applied research, and is working in partnership with the police and other agencies regionally, nationally and internationally. Northumbria’s research themes in the area of contemporary policing include Cybercrime & IT, Forensic Science & Police Cooperation, Police Organisation & Staff, Policing & Vulnerability. The University is currently running a high-profile police seminar series in 2017/18. To find out more about this and Northumbria’s Police Research & Education Network please visit: www.northumbria.ac.uk/police