event Archives - Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre

Centre conference explores how to improve outcomes for vulnerable people

Presentation at the Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre's annual conference 2025

The ESRC Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre has hosted its second annual conference in Leeds, bringing together leading academics, police professionals, policymakers, and community leaders. 11 September 2025 The two-day event, “Vulnerability and Policing: Reducing Harm, Strengthening Justice,” provided a critical platform for discussion on how research can drive improvements in policing and other …

Group of PhD students sat at tables with speaker presenting.

By Sat Kartar Kaur Chandan. Published 5 August 2025. What happens when 21 PhD students come together from across the globe and disciplines, all focused on the intersection of vulnerability and policing? You get a fantastic week of enriching conversations, invaluable collaborations, lasting connections, and a renewed sense of motivation. This was my experience of …

Join us for the Eighth International Conference on Law Enforcement & Public Health. Sunday 6 September – Wednesday 9 September 2026 University of Leeds, Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK The ESRC Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre and the Global Law Enforcement and Public Health Association (GLEPHA) will jointly host the 8th International Law Enforcement and …

12pm – 1pm, Wednesday 16 July 2025 Online Watch the webinar Drawing on interviews with Counter Terrorism practitioners, the study examined perceptions of whether neurodivergent people are more vulnerable to exploitation by online algorithms promoting extremist content. While no direct causal link was established, practitioners consistently framed neurodivergent people as more vulnerable to self-radicalisation via …

Feet moving over a white line on the ground

This webinar will outline findings and recommendations from the UK’s first national study of police responses to county lines drug distribution and related child and adult criminal exploitation. 1pm – 2pm, Thursday 3 July 2025 Online Watch the webinar Event description “County lines” is the term given to the practice of drug dealers from cities …

Join us for a public lecture by Professor Máximo Sozzo, co-hosted with the Centre for Criminal Justice Studies at the University of Leeds. 1pm-2pm (GMT), Wednesday 19 March 2025 The Liberty Building, Moorland Road, Woodhouse, Leeds, LS3 1DB A widespread way in Latin American social sciences of reading police practices that are at odds with …

A group of postgraduate students sat around a table in discussion while conducting group work

Monday 7 July 2025 – Friday 11 July 2025 University of York The Vulnerability and Policing International PhD Summer School provides a fantastic opportunity for the next generation of vulnerability and policing researchers to build lasting connections with peers, learn from internationally renowned academics, and to develop skills and confidence. Held in York, UK, from …

People walking near the metro station. City background with backlight sun.

Register for the latest Vulnerability and Policing PhD Network webinar. 1pm-2pm (GMT), Tuesday 28 January 2025 Online People with neurodiversity or a neurodisability are overly represented in policing interactions. Yet, knowledge to support meaningful and positive impacts on criminal justice systems to support people with neurodiversity/neurodisability are sparse. In this webinar, Dr Inga Heyman and …

Group shot of researchers who attended an ESRC festival of Social Science event in Broadway Shopping Centre, Bradford.

By Dr Larissa Engelmann, Dr David Rowlands, Dr Anna Barker and Dr Vikki Houlden. Published: 4 December 2024. The UK Government has pledged to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) in the next decade, with police forces such as West Yorkshire Police prioritising it as a strategic goal. The City of Bradford District Metropolitan …

By Natalie Avlonitis, PhD Researcher, University of York. Published: 25 November 2024. The first Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre conference took place on 5 September 2024 and invited a mix of academics, practitioners, policy makers and police to present on, and engage with, the Centre’s research. The conference highlighted the expansive range of the …

Centre conference explores how to improve outcomes for vulnerable people

Policing, vulnerability, and the value of connection: reflections from the Vulnerability and Policing International PhD Summer School 2025

LEPH2026

Webinar: Reframing the narrative of neurodivergent suspects of Counter Terrorism – The true victims of exploitation by algorithms

Webinar: County Lines, Policing and Vulnerability

Authoritarianism, Militarisation and Policing: A “Police Palimpsest”

Vulnerability and Policing International PhD Summer School

Neurodiversity: Navigating the criminal justice system at the intersect of policing and health

Safety in Bradford: Voices of Women and Girls

Reflections on “Reshaping the relationship between vulnerability and policing”