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Northern Police Research Webinar sisältö englanti
Northern Police Research Webinar
The international Northern Police Research Webinar presents recent research in the field of policing for researchers, practitioners and other interested parties in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The webinar is arranged approximately every three weeks. On this page you will find the webinar program and information about the topics and presenters.
There is a separate registration link for each day of the webinar series. Once you have signed up, you will receive a Teams link to the event.
The webinars will not be recorded.
The Police University College and the Scottish Institute for Policing Research (SIPR) are responsible for the practical arrangements of the webinar series.
Further information: [email protected]
Webinar program spring 2024
Northern Police Research Webinar spring 2024 haitari en
12:00–13:15 CET
Presenters: Brita Bjørkelo, Norwegian Police University College & Tale Røijen Størdal, Politihøgskolen & Finnborg Salome Steinþórsdóttir, University of Iceland & Gyða Margrét Pétursdóttir, Háskóli Íslands & Laufey Axelsdóttir, University of Iceland & Silje Lundgren, Linköping University & Malin Wieslander, Linköping University
How sexual harassment (SH) is understood and intervened against in the police? SH is an intersectional phenomenon. Different forms of social inequality, oppression and discrimination interact in it and potentially hinder the development of a safe, inclusive and sustainable working life for police employees and others. Sexual harassment is approached in UISH from three perspectives: (1) bystanders, (2) harassed/exposed, and (3) harassers.
The ‘bystander perspective’ (1) build upon the fact that most cases of SH (e.g., slurs, humour, and verbal comments) occur in a work group. The ‘harassed and exposed perspective’ (2) is based on already existing studies documenting intersectional differences (e.g., gender) in perceived and actual acts of SH within the police. UISH aims at developing “in-group forum” initiative to prevent and intervene against SH as well as mapping practices of receptivity and resistance to SH initiatives. The ‘perpetrator perspective’ (3) covers those who harass and expose others to harassment, as well as the human and structural factors enabling harassment and placing different levels of risk based on for instance age, gender, race, sexual orientation, and position on different employees in the police. Designing research with ‘perpetrator perspective’ is methodologically challenging.
The presentation is an introduction to the UISH project and the related work packages.
12:00–13:15 CET
Presenter: Ólafur Örn Bragason, University of Iceland, University of Akureyri, the Centre for Police Training and Professional Development, National Police Commissioner of Iceland
At the focus is the preparation of police education reform in Iceland, i.e. closing the National Police Academy in 2016 and introducing a new two-year diploma, and the effects of this reform. Initial findings from a historical discourse analysis on policy documents leading to this reform will be presented.
In Iceland, the police basic education was upgraded to the university level in 2016. The reform reflects recent changes in many countries where police education has been transformed from special training schools run by the police to university degrees. The reform was underpinned by reports from two working groups formed by the Ministry of the Interior in 2014 and 2015 and two legal texts from 2016. The main research questions are: What characterizes the discourse of police education reform in Icelandic policy documents? What are the discourse’s main legitimating principles, tensions, and contradictions? The analysis followed a six-step approach.
We identified two contrasting legitimating principles in the discourse: the validation of police competence through a university diploma versus policing as a unique public-sector profession. There is a discontinuity in both social structures and practices, leading to a new approach to knowledge development via research and university education. This shift has produced uncertainty. It also illustrates the tensions that can occur when traditional vocational training is transformed into university programs. Our findings resonate with other occupations seeking professional status, but having a strong tradition of control over their own basic training and knowledge bases.
12:00–13.15 CET
Presenter: Ben Collier, University of Edinburgh
Influence policing is an emerging phenomenon: the use of digital targeted ‘nudge’ communications campaigns by police forces and law enforcement agencies to directly achieve strategic policing outcomes. While scholarship, civil society, and journalism have focused on political influence and targeting (often by malicious actors), there has been next to no research on the use of these influence techniques and technologies by governments for preventative law enforcement. With grant funding from SIPR and support from the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (SCCJR), we have studied how this novel mode of police practice is developing through an in-depth study of Police Scotland’s strategic communications unit and a wider systematic overview of these campaigns across the UK.
12:00–13:15 CET
Presenters: Shane MacGiollabhui, Ulster University & Maurice Mulvenna, Ulster University & Raymond Bond, Ulster University & Callum Craig, Trinity College Dublin
The project examines how, and under what conditions, the Police Service of Northern Ireland uses forensic services in a way that leads to more effective, and efficient, investigations into criminal offences. In this presentation, we provide an overview of the projects design, research questions, and a preliminary examination of the data. The research team includes formal cooperation from the PSNI, as well as the Department of Justice NI, and the Strategic Investment Board of NI.
12:00–13:15 CET
Presenter: Cian Ó Concubhair, Maynooth University
Over the past decade, a citizens’ assembly model has been developed and deployed by the Irish Government to address a number of contentious and/or complex legal and policy questions. In October 2023, Ireland completed its most recent experiment with policy development by way of deliberative democracy. This time, the agenda was drug policy.
The role of policing in the perpetration of the Irish state’s own five-decade-long ‘war on drugs’ was, inevitably, a point of discussion for the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use. Unfortunately, despite the central role of policing in Irish drug policy, the Assembly’s focus of attention to the question was fleeting.
This presentation outlines the Assembly’s treatment of policing and the contributions of senior officers from Ireland’s national police force, An Garda Síochána, to the process. The presentation then offers some reflections on why the Assembly gave such an impoverished assessment of drugs policing in Ireland, including the dearth of evidence and research on the topic.
12:00–13:15 CET
Presenter: Malin Eriksson, Umeå university
The police play a crucial role in establishing security in a society, and as such contributing to social sustainable communities. This responsibility is fundamental but comes with challenges, particularly in terms of building relationships and gaining trust from the public, not least in areas considered as vulnerable. Social capital provides insights into overcoming these challenges. This presentation provides an overview of the concept of social capital and its relevance for community policing and social sustainability. The seminar concludes with a discussion on how community policing can contribute to strengthening social capital in local communities.
12:00–13:15 CET
Presenters: Vesa Muttilainen & Terhi Kankaanranta, Police University College, Finland
Based on the data collected via an electronic survey, the state of economic crime investigation in Finland from various perspectives will be reviewed. A questionnaire will be sent to persons who perform economic crime investigations in the Finnish police. Topics such as e.g. the investigation process and its organization, co-operation between the police and other authorities and involved parties as well as the police staff’s training needs are addressed. The previous such surveys were carried out in 2011 and 2015. In our presentation we will describe the main results of the latest survey, and compare the results to the previous studies. Besides these, we present police statistics on the development of new, open and closed economic crime cases in the longer run.
Northern Police Research Webinar sisältö haitarin jälkeen englanti
Previous webinar programs
Northern Police Research Webinar spring 2023 haitari en
13:00–14:15 CET
Presenters: Nadine Dougall, Inga Heyman and Andy Tatnell, Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland
Dr Nadine Dougall is Professor of Mental Health & Data Science, Head of Health & Social Care Sciences and Lead for Early Career Researchers within the School of Health & Social Care. She is Co-Director of the Scottish Centre for Policing & Public Health (SCLEPH). SCLEPH has its academic base within the School of Health & Social Care, Edinburgh Napier University and strong links with the Scottish Institute of Policing Research (SIPR). Nadine’s research interests are focused around suicide, vulnerability and agency response to suicidal behavior and mental health distress.
Dr Inga Hayman is an Associate Professor at Edinburg Napier University. She is a registered Adult and Mental Health Nurse and teacher with a clinical, educational and research career in Australia and Scotland spanning 41 years. She is Co-Director of the Scottish collaboration for policing and public Health (SCLEPH). SCLEPH is an international academic and practice collaboration with key external stakeholders including Police Scotland, people and communities with experience of the police/health intersect, The Mental Health Foundation Scotland, the Global Law Enforcement & Public Health Association (GLEPHA), and the Centre for Law Enforcement and Public Health (CLEPH, Melbourne, Australia) amongst others. SCLEPH has its academic base within the School of Health & Social Care, Edinburgh Napier University and has strong links with the Scottish Institute of Policing Research (SIPR).
Dr Andy Tatnell retired from Police Scotland at the rank of Superintendent in 2014 after 30 years police service. Since then, he has completed his PhD with the University of the West of Scotland and undertaken a number of Research Assistant roles supporting principal researchers with policing related academic research studies. These have included exploring the influence of organisational and occupational culture on the co-location of public agencies within the Scottish Crime Campus; the impact of Police Reform in Scotland on the role of Divisional Commanders and Departmental Heads; Policing the COVID-19 Pandemic in Rural Scotland; and most recently, how cross-service collaboration between ambulance, fire, and policing services can improve community safety and wellbeing. Andy’s work has been recognised by SIPR with his appointment as a SIPR Associate.
12:00–13:15 CET
Presenter: Shane Mac Giollabhuí, Ulster University, Ireland
Shane Mac Giollabhuí is a Lecturer in Criminology at Ulster University, Belfast, in Northern Ireland. His research and teaching focuses on the culture and organization of liberation movements, political parties, and police forces. His research has been published in journals across the social sciences, including African Affairs, Democratization, Party Politics, The British Journal of Criminology, Qualitative Research, and in peer-reviewed books and edited volumes from Palgrave and Routledge.
12:00–13.15 CET
Presenters: Marianne Mela and Jarmo Houtsonen, Police University College, Finland
Marianne Mela, MSocSc, is a Researcher at the Police University College and a PhD student at the Helsinki University. Her current research focuses on police response on domestic violence. Previously she has worked in projects focusing on domestic violence, vulnerable individuals, and societal resilience. She has 16 years of experience as a police officer.
Jarmo Houtsonen, PhD, is a Senior Researcher at the Police University College. His current research deals with domestic violence and digital violence against women. He has been involved in several national and international research and innovation projects funded by European Commission, NordForsk and the Academy of Finland.
12:00–13:15 CEST
Presenters: Guðmundur Oddsson and Andrew Paul Hill, University of Akureyri, Iceland, and Thoroddur Bjarnason, University of Iceland and University of Akureyri, Iceland
Guðmundur Oddsson is Associate Professor of Sociology at the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Akureyri. His research focuses on social control, deviance, and class inequality, particularly the subjective dimensions of class. He has published in journals such as Acta Sociologica, Current Sociology, and The Sociological Quarterly and is the lead author of a chapter in The Making of a Police Officer: Comparative Perspectives on Police Education and Recruitment published by Routledge in 2020.
Andrew Paul Hill is Assistant Professor of Police Science at the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Akureyri. His research interests include police education, ethical police practice, equality and diversity in the workplace, and adult dyslexia in the professions. His publications include an article arguing for police and probation officers to complete an extended period in Higher Education as preparation for practice. He co-authored a chapter in The Making of a Police Officer: Comparative Perspectives on Police Education and Recruitment published by Routledge in 2020.
Thoroddur Bjarnason is Professor of Sociology at the Faculty of Sociology, Anthropology and Folkloristics at the University of Iceland and Research Professor of Sociology in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Akureyri. His research primarily focuses on rural issues and regional development, and his recent publications include articles on social mobility and tolerance published in Ethnic and Racial Studies (2019) and Population, Space and Place (2020, 2021), school bullying, sexual orientation and adolescent migration intentions in Culture, Health and Sexuality (2020) and Population, Space and Place (2021) and book chapters on the myth of the immobile rural (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020) and changing ruralities in Icelandic cinema (Routledge, 2021).
12:00–13:15 CEST
Presenter: Gunnar Thomassen, Norwegian Police University College, Norway
Gunnar Thomassen is a Political Scientist and Associate Professor at the Police University College in Oslo. His research topics include police accountability, trust in the police, and police corruption. He is currently working on a project about corruption in a Nordic context commissioned by the Norwegian Police Directorate (POD).
12:00–13:15 CEST
Presenter: Erik Borglund, Mid University and Umeå University, Sweden
Erik Borglund is Professor in Archives and information science at Mid University and Visiting Professor at the Police Education Unit, Umeå University. He has 20 years of experience as a sworn police officer, of which 7 years in the Swedish Police counter terrorism unit. Erik has extensive experience of tactics and weapons training as well as education. Since 2004, he has been researching information management and the use of information technology in police practice.
Northern Police Research Webinar autumn 2023 haitari en
12:00–13:15 CEST
Presenter: Vesa Huotari, Police University College, Finland
Vesa Huotari, PhD (education) is a senior researcher at Police University College. In his career at the Police University College he has tackled a wide range of research topics from police education, leadership, equality, evaluation of effectiveness, innovations, to technology. While he all but abhor empiricist approaches, whether quantitative or qualitative, he is most at home with questions that relate to philosophical, methodological and theoretical dimensions in research.
12:00–13:15 CEST
Presenter: Maja Feng Mikalsen, Norwegian Police University College, and Department of Sociology and Human Geography, University of Oslo, Norway
Maja Feng Mikalsen is a Sociologist, a PhD candidate at the Norwegian Police University College in Oslo, and an externally funded PhD candidate at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography at the University of Oslo. Her research topics are crime prevention, (online) grooming, social inequality, diversity and inclusion, and discrimination. She is currently working on her PhD project: ‘Grooming: phenomenon and holistic consequences’, funded by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security (JD) / the National Police Directorate (POD).
12:00–13:15 CEST
Presenter: Rannveig Þórisdóttir, National Police Commissioner of Iceland
Rannveig Thorisdottir is a division manager at the National Police Commissioner of Iceland amongst other in charge of IT, statistical analysis and research. She is also an adjunct at the University of Iceland. She holds a MA in Sociology for the University of Iceland and is currently a PhD student in Sociology at the University of Iceland focusing on Police Legitimacy. Her research focus has mainly been on victimization surveys, for example trust in the police, fear of crime and protective measures. She has also worked with official data, mostly police data and has taken part in the European sourcebook publication. Most of her work has been in the field of criminology publishing in journals such as Nordisk Samarbeidsråd for Kriminologi, and YOUNG.
12:00–13:30 CEST
Presenters: Lorna Dennison-Wilkins, University of Dundee and Surrey and Sussex Police & Jon Rees, CEFAS – Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Scotland
Dr Lorna Dennison Wilkins, Police Search Advisor at Sussex Police with PhD (Dundee University) and BSc (Hons) in Criminology, began the ‘Body Recovery from Water Study’ in 2008. She collected and analysed data on deceased human bodies in inland water, did supplementary experimentation, and learned about factors affecting body movement and location which support search parameters more effectively and increase the chances of successful search operations and associated investigations. Lorna uses the knowledge gained through her research and network of interested parties for the benefit of missing person and crime investigations.
Jon Rees, Principal Physical Oceanographer at CEFAS (Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science) with degrees from Warwick, Southampton, and UEA, is part of CEFAS’s Emergency response team giving advice to government departments on the fate and impact of oil and chemical spills around the UK. He has further developed the tools to predict the fate of missing persons in the marine environment and conversely, the potential entry point into the sea of missing persons found along the coastline. These predictions enable the police to use their resources in an effective and efficient manner to recover/identify the Missing Persons.
12:00–13:30 CET
Presenter: Mikael Emsing, Umea University, Sweden
Mikael Emsing, PhD in Medical Sciences with an orientation towards public health and epidemiology, MSc. in pedagogy, and also trained at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm, Sweden where he studied Afro/jazz music. He is currently working as a teacher at the Unit for Police Education where he teaches at the basic police training programme, and at the bachelor's and master's programmes. He is also active as a musician, albeit not professionally, but in his own trio New Orbits. His current research projects relate to the propensity to report intimate partner violence, and the stress and mental health among Colombian police recruits.
12:00–13:15 CET
Presenter: Ciara Aucoin Delloue
Ciara Aucoin Delloue was a PhD researcher in the School of Applied Social and Policy Sciences at Ulster University from 2019–2023 as a EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow. Her research was on the public order policing practices of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). She completed her PhD viva (external examiner Prof. Tim Newburn) in June 2023 and is currently working on papers for publication. She currently works as a consultant on an international research project funded by the EU and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.
12:00–13:15 CET
Presenters: Ian D. Marder, Maynooth University School of Law and Criminology and Deputy Director of the Maynooth Centre for Criminology Research & Yvonne Daly, School of Law and Government, Dublin City University, Ireland
Ian Marder is Assistant Professor in Criminology at Maynooth University School of Law and Criminology and Deputy Director of the Maynooth Centre for Criminology Research. His work focuses on criminal justice reform, and includes policymaking and practice development, in addition to research. His work in restorative justice and restorative practices involves engaging with all stages of the criminal justice process. In the policing context, he has conducted research on the police’s facilitation of restorative justice processes, the use of restorative practices to build police-community relations, and public attitudes towards restorative policing.
Yvonne Daly is Professor of Criminal Law and Evidence in the School of Law and Government at Dublin City University. She is an expert on criminal evidence and procedure, with a specific research focus on effective criminal defence and the legal regulation of criminal investigations. She is committed to research with real-world impact and her work on access to legal assistance in police custody, on the right to silence, and on the consequences of improperly obtained evidence has been foundational in the creation of training for police station lawyers. She has published widely on criminal evidence and procedure, and in 2023 she published Criminal Defence Representation at Garda Stations (Bloomsbury Professional), a first-of-its-kind study which she undertook with her late colleague Dr Vicky Conway.