Northern universities find the force is with them

Cheshire Constabulary and the Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire have joined the Policing Research Partnership set up by the N8 group of northern universities.

The partnership already includes 10 police forces that are working with universities in the north of England to generate research and to exchange knowledge on policing. Projects include looking at how the police can better capture and analyse data from video and other sources.

“It’s about transforming the way the police use evidence and the way we as academics provide evidence and translate it for the police to use,” says Adam Crawford, the director of the partnership who is based in the school of law at the University of Leeds. He says the scheme is intending that researchers and police representatives will produce research questions and answers together. “We’re aware there’s a number of other things going on, but this is different,” he says. “It’s new and innovative.”