Six Warwick social science researchers have become members of the West Midlands Police & Crime Commissioner's new Academic Advisory Board.
Dr Ana Aliverti, Professor Jo Angouri, Professor Jackie Hodgson, Professor Vanessa Munro, Professor Tom Sorell and Professor Azrini Wahidin will share research and expertise with the West Midlands Police & Crime Commissioner, David Jamieson.
The board brings together academics from the region's universities who have expertise in political governance, policing, social cohesion, criminology and social work to share research and identify new and creative ways they can work together with the police to reduce crime in the West Midlands.
The University has a strong track record of research on policing and crime, and has built fruitful collaborations with various police forces -including the West Midlands Police- through the work of the Criminal Justice Centre and the Centre for Operational Police Research.
Dr Ana Aliverti,Reader in Law and co-Director of the Criminal Justice Centre, said:
"This is a welcome and exciting opportunity to foster and expand existing connections between the West Midlands Police and the University of Warwick, through the Police & Crime Commissioner's office.
"I look forward to exploring novel and creative forms of collaboration to produce rigorous research that informs policies to the benefit of the local community."
Professor Jackie Hodgson,Professor of Law, Deputy Pro Vice Chancellor (Research) and Co-Director of the Centre for Operational Police Research, said:
"This is an excellent opportunity for the PCC, police and researchers to strengthen relationships, ensuring that police practices and governance are informed by evidence-based research of the highest quality.
"The Centre for Operational Police Research has been the focus for numerous studies co-designed and carried out with the full support of police forces across the country. Warwick researchers in disciplines as varied as Law, Engineering, Behavioural Science, Ethics and Cyber Security have a strong track record in working with police, evaluating policy and practice and helping to ensure that increasingly precious resources are directed where they are most effective. This new Advisory Board is extremely welcome as a new forum for regional collaboration between universities and police."
Professor Jo Angouri, Professor of Linguistics, Academic Director of Education and Internationalisation and co-Director of the Migration, Identity and Translation International Network, said:
"I am excited to join the Advisory Board and to explore creative, new ways of collaborating, connecting the work we do internationally with excellent practice regionally. Warwick has a solid record of working closely with international academic and non-academic partners in addressing complex global issues and in creating interfaces with local communities.
"I look forward to sharing cutting edge research in preventing hate crime and gender violence and in supporting the victims of crime. I am interested in best practice in keeping university campuses and the wider regional communities open and safe for all, and to work with the West Midlands PCC Office and colleagues across the region"
Professor Vanessa Munro, Professor of Law,said:
"I am delighted to be able to join this Academic Advisory Board, and I am very much looking forward to working with colleagues in criminal justice policy and practice to develop collaborations that will facilitate evidence-based innovation in responding to the causes and consequences of crime, in the West Midlands region and beyond.
"I am particularly excited by the opportunity to develop partnerships targeted at understanding and responding most effectively to the needs of victims of crime, including gender-based violence which is a topic on which I have been writing and researching for over 2 decades."
Professor Tom Sorell, Professor of Politics and Philosophy in the Department of Politics and International Studies, said:
"The idea of a regional academic advisory board is a good one, and I hope it will also help to foster collaborative research on policing in the West Midlands"
Professor Azrini Wahidin,Professor of Sociology and Criminology, said:
"I am delighted to be joining the Academic Advisory Board, and to be working with colleagues addressing policy and practice in the criminal justice field. I see this as a great opportunity to share research and knowledge in the field of policing, prisons, criminal justice policy and practice more generally.
"The opportunity for collaboration has particular resonance with my own work, gained from researching in different jurisdictions, working with different PCC's, conducting evaluations, and my publications that have focused on women, LGBT's and migrants in the criminal justice system over the last 20 years."
West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson said: "Throughout my time as Police and Crime Commissioner I have listened to the priorities of the diverse communities in the West Midlands. This board provides me with the chance to learn about the work academics are doing and listen to what they think needs to be done to reduce crime.
"I am looking forward to seeing the Academic Advisory Board fully running over the next few months."
Alongside holding West Midlands Police and the Chief Constable to account for policing across the region, the PCC commissions, invests in and collaborates on a wide range of projects designed to prevent crime. The PCC has commissioned a wide range of initiatives which focus on diverting young people away from criminality, reducing school exclusions, addressing challenges faced by young people in care and supporting early intervention, mental health and victim support efforts.
The University of Birmingham, Birmingham City University, Aston University, Newman University, Coventry University, and Wolverhampton University are also represented on the board.
