The New Researchers in Policing Network gathered in Sheffield to engage with police on building collaborative research

On September 16^th, the N8 PRP New Researchers in Policing Network (NRiPN) met at the University of Sheffield for their Research Away day. The event was co-hosted by North and South Yorkshire Police and was an opportunity for NRiPN members to hear from police representatives about the practicalities of doing research with the police.

The start off the day, Dr Ellen Reeves (NRiPN Director) chaired a panel with NYP and SYP police representatives on how academics can approach and engage with police for research. The panel consisted of Inspector Ross Greenwood (SYP), Sergeant Bruce Yacomeni (SYP), Tania Percy (SYP), Samantha Broome (NYP), Inspector Elaine Malcome (NYP) and Sharon Bartlett (NYP).

Following this session, Dr Laura Naegler (University of Liverpool) spoke to attendees about her recently N8 PRP funded project on people with autism’s experiences of custody – for which she has partnered with Greater Manchester Police and North Yorkshire Police to conduct. Attendees had an opportunity to share their own policing research projects with the group and to workshop their research ideas, with input from police representatives.

For the final session of the day, attendees split into two groups to discuss N8 PRP research priority briefs prepared by the policing leads. Group one was chaired by Inspector Ross Greenwood (SYP) and focused on ‘understanding and managing professional conduct within policing’. Group two was chaired by Samantha Broome (NYP) and considered ‘staff retention and police mental health’. For this exercise, NRiPN members worked with police representatives to devise plans for how these key policing issues might be approached through academic research, identifying potential data sources and methodologies.

The event was a huge success and demonstrated the value of partnerships between academics and police in order to produce impactful research aimed at improving policing practice and operations. Dr Ellen Reeves would like to thank South and North Yorkshire Police for hosting the event, and Dr Xavier L’Hoiry for helping set up the event at the University of Sheffield.

For more information on joining NRiPN, please visit the NRiPN webpage, and upcoming events please visit our Events page. 

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