The ESRC Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre’s inaugural annual conference is now fully booked.
This one-day conference provides an opportunity for academics and practitioners to share ideas and create plans to improve the policies, systems and processes that impact the policing of people considered vulnerable.
The sessions will reveal new findings from the Centre’s research projects and provide insights into the latest vulnerability and policing work. By bringing academics, practitioners and policy makers together, the event will offer opportunities to explore how research can be applied to policy and practice.
Programme
Arrival, tea and coffee – 9am – 9.30am
Welcome: Professor Kiran Trehan, Chair of the Centre’s National Engagement Group
Keynote speakers:
- Professor Dame Sara Thornton, Rights Lab Professor of Practice in Modern Slavery Policy – University of Nottingham
- Will Linden, Deputy Director Research – Scottish Violence Reduction Unit
Session chair: Professor Charlie Lloyd, Co-Director of the Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre
Session 1 – 10.30am – 11.30am
This session will include three presentations focusing on children and young people.
The first talk (Dr Andrew James Williams) will explore a participatory action research method that saw young people from deprived communities take photos around what made them feel heard or ignored in their community. The talk will discuss the project’s approach, findings and what has happened since the project.
The second presentation (Dr Ben Brewster) will provide findings from a project examining the role of social media in the trafficking and exploitation of children and young people.
The third talk (Dr Chris Devany) will explore the harms caused to young people from criminal exploitation through County Lines drug networks, based on the Centre’s County Lines, policing and vulnerability research project.
Speakers
- Dr Ben Brewster (University of Nottingham)
- Dr Chris Devany (University of York)
- Dr Andrew James Williams (University of Edinburgh)
- Chair: Balbir Chatrik (Director of Policy and Prevention, Centrepoint)
This session will showcase research that seeks to capitalise on public services’ routinely-collected data to inform evidence-based responses to vulnerability. It will feature talks about ongoing Centre projects and from researchers engaged in related approaches from further afield. This includes presentations on how connected data are being harnessed in Bradford to generate positive societal outcomes, how administrative data can be used as an indicator of vulnerability in children and young people, and the Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre’s ongoing Data Scientist Development Programme.
This session is distinct to “Harnessing routinely collected data to inform evidence-based responses to vulnerability (2)”. It is not necessary to attend both, to get the most of out of either session.
Speakers
- Professor Mark Mon-Williams (University of Leeds)
- Professor John Wright (Bradford Institute for Health Research)
- Dr Megan Wood, (University of Leeds)
- Chair: Professor Dan Birks (University of Leeds)
This session will explore the strengths and weaknesses of vulnerability as an organising concept in the context of policing. Speakers will give talks on research studies that have considered the implications of how vulnerability is mobilised in different policing contexts in the UK and beyond. Research findings will include studies of police custody, vulnerability policing in Tasmania, and service provider/service user views on vulnerability and policing in the city of Bradford, UK.
The Chair will provide a perspective from current work leading the Vulnerability Knowledge and Practice Programme within the College of Policing. There will be opportunity to discuss how vulnerability might be mobilised progressively in policing and multi-agency work to reduce harm to those deemed vulnerable.
Speakers
- Dr Roxanna Dehaghani (Cardiff University)
- Dr Isabelle Bartkowiak-Théron (University of Tasmania)
- Dr Öznur Yardımcı (University of York)
- Chair: Gareth Edwards (Director, Vulnerability Knowledge and Practice Programme)
This roundtable will start to explore to what extent language around vulnerabilities has shifted by policing responses to domestic abuse. It will start by looking at emerging findings from the Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre’s research on domestic abuse responses in the state of Victoria, Australia (presented by Professors Kate Fitz-Gibbon and Sandra Walklate).
The session will then move closer to home, to look at how ‘vulnerabilities’ are or are not responded to in terms of service providers (Dr Rebecca Shaw) and in policing domestic abuse in a trauma-informed manner (Dr Sam Lewis).
Speakers
- Professor Kate Fitz-Gibbon (Monash University)
- Professor Sandra Walklate (University of Liverpool and Monash University)
- Dr Rebecca Shaw (University of Leeds)
- Dr Sam Lewis (University of Leeds)
- Chair: Professor Nicole Westmarland (Durham University)
This discussion will focus on trust and confidence in the police as well as what the public wants from the police. The session will reflect on research from the Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre that explored the concept of a ‘minimum policing standard’ – people’s views on a set of functions police should always be able to provide and the conduct they should adhere to. The speakers will talk about what service people think the police should deliver, and whether they think police are achieving it.
Speakers
- Professor Ben Bradford (UCL)
- Professor Adam Crawford (University of York & University of Leeds)
- Dr David Rowlands (University of Leeds)
- Dr Christine A. Weirich (University of Leeds)
- Professor Jonathan Jackson (LSE)
- Chair: Dr Rick Muir (Director, Police Foundation)
Coffee break – 11.30am – 12pm
During this break, there will be an opportunity for early career and PhD researchers to connect in a dedicated networking session.
Session 2 – 12pm – 1pm
This session will showcase research that seeks to capitalise on public services’ routinely-collected data to inform evidence-based responses to vulnerability. It will feature talks about ongoing Centre projects and from researchers engaged in related approaches from further afield. This includes presentations on analysing space time patterns of knife crime, missing persons risk assessment and harm prediction, and exploratory applications of large language models to support analyses of unstructured police incident narratives.
This session is distinct to “Harnessing routinely collected data to inform evidence-based responses to vulnerability (1)”. It is not necessary to attend both, to get the most of out of either session.
Speakers
- Professor Iain Brennan (University of Hull)
- Dr Tongxin Chen (University of Hull)
- Dr Toby Davies (University of Leeds)
- Sam Relins (University of York)
- Dr Aiden Sidebottom (UCL)
- Chair: Professor Dan Birks (University of Leeds)
This panel discussion will focus on ways to ensure our evolving police workforce is equipped to respond to vulnerabilities appropriately whilst remaining mentally healthy. The first half of the session will begin with a brief overview of the area followed by an introductory presentation of each discussant’s topic. In the second half, a discussion with the panel and audience will examine how to train and sustain a mentally healthy police force that minimises further harms when encountering issues of vulnerability, whether within or outside the organisation. It will also explore the implications of changing workforce demographics for the future of policing.
Speakers
- Chief Inspector Dr Yvonne Taylor (College of Policing)
- Dr Claire Warrington (University of York)
- Dr Emma Williams (Open University)
- Chair: Professor Adam Crawford (University of Leeds and University of York)
This workshop is about learning from people whose perspectives need to be listened to more often in debates about vulnerability and policing. Justice failures, trust in public services and the criminalisation of disadvantaged communities will all be discussed.
Dr Nikki Rutter will report from collaborative participatory research with children and families on ‘child to parent violence’. Revolving Doors Lived Experience Members will outline person-centred ways to address exploitation in county lines drug markets. Dr Nadia Jessop will introduce research into what works on policing sexual harassment of racially minoritized young women and girls.
This session will challenge traditional accounts of vulnerability. Join us to learn from experts whose insights can support better rights and protections for people often failed by public services and policing.
Speakers
- Revolving Doors Lived Experience Members
- Dr Nadia Jessop (University of York)
- Dr Nikki Rutter (University of Durham)
- Chair: Professor Kate Brown (University of York)
This workshop will explore how we can work with local communities and services to develop an effective holistic response to online child sexual victimisation, taking local needs and existing support networks into account. Practitioners from Blackpool who work with children and young people and respond to online violence will help us understand what it looks like to support young people and families in the community, as they negotiate online sexual harms.
The speakers will present local priorities that have been co-designed with services and community members. The priorities have the potential to influence change and help to address the inherent difficulty in keeping up with the nature and scope of online violence experienced by children.
The aim of the overall project is to approach online child sexual victimisation in an engaging and supportive way that empowers local communities to generate quality standards that children, young people, and services can work towards.
Speakers
- Professor Corinne May-Chahal (Lancaster University)
- Dr Christine A. Weirich & Dr Larissa Engelmann (University of Leeds)
- Sarah Lindsay and local young person (Head of Children and Young People Services, Boathouse Youth, Blackpool)
- Detective Inspector Mathew Frith (Awaken Team, Lancashire Constabulary)
- Chair: Dr Sarah Carlick (MeSafe)
This roundtable follows on from the earlier session, and continues to explore to what extent language around vulnerabilities has shifted as a result of policing responses to domestic abuse. Professor Nicole Westmarland will start by presenting emerging findings from the Centre’s research on domestic abuse responses in Manchester, UK, and also offer some theoretical contextualisation for discussion particularly in relation to people who perpetrate domestic abuse.
Following this, Professor Amanda Robinson will present key findings on specialist police units based on innovations in South Wales. This will be followed by Dr Lisa Tompson, who will introduce her research on the intersectional profiles of people who experience family violence in New Zealand.
Speakers
- Professor Amanda Robinson (Cardiff University)
- Dr Lisa Tompson (University of Waikato)
- Chair: Professor Nicole Westmarland (Durham University)
Lunch – 1pm – 2pm
Session 3 – 2pm – 3pm
This panel session will explore the challenges that arise when communication and procedures are hindered by specific access and communication needs. Robert Skinner will examine how technology is utilised to make police services accessible to deaf individuals who prefer using signed languages. Estelle Clayton will present research from the INTERACT project, highlighting autistic individuals’ experiences of digitally-mediated policing. Jemina Napier will share insights from the JUSTISIGNS 2 project, focusing on the experiences of Deaf victims of domestic violence in accessing communication and information. This session underscores the critical importance of involving individuals with specific communication needs in the design and implementation of essential police services.
This session is contributed by the Scottish Institute for Policing Research (SIPR).
Speakers
- Dr Estelle Clayton (Edinburgh Napier University)
- Professor Jemina Napier (Heriot-Watt University)
- Dr Robert Skinner (Heriot-Watt University)
- Chair: Professor Charlie Lloyd (University of York)
This panel discussion will explore service provision in Bradford for vulnerable people drawn into contact with the police. The session will introduce the Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre’s Bradford Service Mapping project, before going on to present findings from its homelessness, violence against women and girls, and place-based case studies. Additionally, two Bradford practitioners who provide interventions for vulnerable groups will deliver presentations.
Drawing on both research findings and practitioners’ lived experience, the session will provide insights on what is working well in the city and where challenges still lie in meeting the complex needs of vulnerable populations.
Speakers
- Dr David Rowlands (University of Leeds)
- Dr Larissa Engelmann (University of Leeds)
- Dr Adam White (University of Sheffield)
- Clare Flannigan (Coordinator, Bradford Homeless Outreach Partnership)
- Helen Dudman (Multiple and Complex Needs Worker, Bradford Homeless Outreach Partnership)
- Sam Kirkby (Community Centre Manager, Sutton Centre, Holme Wood)
- Kieron Stewart (Holmewood Youth Coordinator, Holme Centre, Home Wood)
- Chair: Chief Superintendent and District Commander for Bradford Richard Padwell (West Yorkshire Police)
This session will explore current research in mental health and policing. It will report on progress from the Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre’s research exploring how police respond to, and work with, people experiencing mental distress. It will also provide an international perspective on mental health and policing and an opportunity to discuss the policing of mental health in the context of Right Care, Right Person.
Speakers
- Professor Martin Webber (University of York)
- Professor Liz Hughes (Glasgow Caledonian University)
- Professor Jen Wood (Temple University)
- Dr Öznur Yardımcı (University of York)
- Chair: Andy Bell (Chief Executive, Centre for Mental Health)
This session will explore how the policing and safeguarding of (often young) people understood as, or potentially considered as, both vulnerable and criminally exploited is developing in the UK.
Drawing on the ESRC Vulnerability and Policing Futures Research Centre’s ‘County Lines Policing and Vulnerability’ project, Professor Ross Coomber and Dr Chris Devany will provide an overview of all forces’ policing practice and viewpoints. The session will then delve deeper into issues from the perspective of those tasked with progressing policing in this area nationally (Duncan Evans) and in terms of progressive broader contextual safeguarding at the local level (Tony Kirk).
Speakers
- Professor Ross Coomber (University of Liverpool)
- Dr Chris Devany (University of York)
- Inspector Duncan Evans (National County Lines Lead for Child Exploitation, National County Lines Coordination Centre)
- Anthony Kirk (Head of Service Contextual Safeguarding, Children’s Services, Wirral Council)
- Chair: Tom Bucke (Deputy Director, Home Office Analysis and Insight, Home Office)
This panel discussion will present and explore the findings of two projects funded by the Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre: ‘Defendants as victims: a scoping review of vulnerability, victimhood and safeguards from charge to conviction’ and ‘Over-policed and under-protected? Administrative justice, criminal justice, and positive obligations to protect “legally vulnerable” groups’.
The first presentation will explore the possibility for law reform to better respond to the needs of defendants and suspects who are also victims of crime. This includes addressing disparities in the safeguards offered to vulnerable defendants and witnesses, and expanding the scope of legal defences. The second presentation will examine the growth of ‘vulnerability’ as a statutory concept in public law, and whether this is reflected in the experiences of frontline workers who interact with vulnerable individuals.
Speakers
- Dr Ailbhe O’Loughlin (University of York)
- Dr Angela Paul (University of York)
- Chair: Dr Roxanna Dehaghani (Cardiff University)
Coffee break – 3pm – 3.30pm
Introduction: Dr Jen Gold (Director of Research, Economic and Social Research Council)
The conference will close with a plenary panel including:
- Professor Carlene Firmin MBE (Durham University)
- Professor Katrin Hohl (City University of London)
- Dr Rick Muir (Director, Police Foundation)
- Danny Shaw (Ex-BBC home affairs correspondent; former adviser to Yvette Cooper)
- Chair: Professor Adam Crawford (University of York & University of Leeds)