
Tell us about yourself
I am Professor of Policing and Criminal Justice and Pro-Dean for Research and Innovation in the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Leeds.
My research interests focus on exploring changes and continuities in the arrangement and provision of contemporary policing. These interests span both the public and private sectors, or what might be described as state-led policing and commercial forms of policing, including the private security industry. Much of my work has focused on the governance of policing, and how policing is rendered accountable both at the institutional and the individual level. More recently, I have studied the impact of new technologies on police work. The first of these explored the use of body-worn video cameras in responses to domestic abuse incidents, funded by the N8 Policing Research Partnership. The second, conducted with colleagues from Leeds University Business School, explored digital mobile technologies’ bearing on processes of control and accountability.
I have written extensively on the subject of police governance and accountability, including two recent co-edited books, Accountability of Policing (2015), edited with Mike Rowe and published by Routledge, and Private Sector and Criminal Justice (2018), edited with Anthea Hucklesby and published by Palgrave Macmillan.
I also have a long-standing interest in relations between public and private providers of policing, as well as in ‘distraction burglary’ and the victimisation of older people.
Why did you want to become a Research Affiliate?
I very much want the Centre to be a success – and am therefore keen to develop and pursue opportunities to support its work and to help it have the greatest possible impact and influence on policing through the development of a robust and evidence-led knowledge base.
How does your research connect to the Centre’s mission and values?
Broadly, in that I am very keen to see fair, accountable and knowledge-based policing.