Policing Research Partnership

Policing, community safety, crime prevention and victim services have all gone through unprecedented change in recent years. This provides an ideal opportunity for research collaboration and knowledge exchange between the research, policy and practitioner communities.

The N8 Research Partnership has established the N8 Policing Research Partnership (N8 PRP) to enable and foster research collaborations that will help address the problems of policing in the 21st century and achieve international excellence in policing research and impact.

The aim of N8 PRP is to establish and formalise a regional network of research and innovation in policing. It provides a platform for collaborations between universities, Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs), government, police forces, and other partners working in policing policy, governance and practice.

The ambition of N8 PRP is to produce knowledge that has a public purpose, engages with different groups and informs public debate. In pursuing this, N8 PRP offers opportunities for research at different scales including local, regional, national and international issues.

The N8 PRP is not restricted to the study of the police organisation but works on the basis that ‘policing’ consists of different agencies within and beyond the police. Given that policing is conducted for, with and by members of the public, a central element of the co-production model used involves public engagement, both during the research and in its dissemination.

Find out more on the N8 PRP website.

Priorities

Generate innovative research,
Inform strategic knowledge exchange and increase the reach of existing research;
Support academic professional development opportunities;
Increase capacity to achieve region-wide operational impact;
Create agile and strategic pathways to impact for policing research;
Address structural barriers to collaboration.

Objectives

Produce high quality, independent research;
Build policing research and knowledge exchange capacity in universities;
Develop capacity and resources in both policing research and police and crime data analytics;
Encourage and foster the development of national and international links;
Develop and disseminate a transferable model of practice.

Research Activities

Between 2015-2020, N8 PRP ran a five-year programme of research and knowledge exchange pioneering innovative collaboration between police forces and universities in the North of England. Funded by a £3m grant from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and supplemented by more than £4 million from policing partners and the N8 universities. The programme enabled the partnership to take a major step forward in developing and testing innovative approaches to policing and crime reduction.

Since 2020, N8 PRP has operated under a co-governance and co-funding model between the N8 universities and police forces across the North of England. The partnership is led by Academic and Policing Co-Directors. Find out more about the governance structure here.

The N8 PRP website hosts a list of academic experts by theme as well as Regional Leads for the geographic area covered by the partnership, who can help with signposting to relevant local researchers, to support police partners interested in commissioning research or an academic evaluation of a project.

Outcomes

Small Grants

The Small Grants scheme provides pump-priming funds to support research into targeted and important areas of policing work and areas where the gaps in knowledge are most prominent and where research benefits are of greatest value

The scheme places an emphasis on co-production, innovation and impact and brings together academics, the police and other partners to work on joint projects. To date, a total of £340k has been awarded to support 15 projects. Issues addressed in projects include policing cryptocurrency, coercive control and modern slavery.

Policing Innovation Forum

Innovation lies at the heart of N8 PRP’s strategy, and the Policing Innovation Forum acts as the engine of such innovation. The annual event brings together academics, police and practitioners from other services to focus on a highly topical area of policing. The purpose of each Forum is to spawn new synergies, to identify novel research opportunities, and to stimulate knowledge exchange.

Past forum events have focussed on Cybercrime, Domestic Abuse, Vulnerability and early intervention, Mental Health, and Knife Crime.

New Researchers in Policing Network

The New Researchers in Policing Network (NRiPN) is community of Post Graduate and Early Career Researchers in the N8 PRP region that supports research, bids, events, collaboration, and impact.

Through discussion, events, and support, NRiPN provides the opportunity to:

Develop research, funding applications, career development, and pathways to impact;
Find collaboration, dissemination, and impact opportunities with N8 PRP partners;
Gain insight from senior academics and police practitioners, increase your awareness of the wider field of policing research, and stay informed about funding opportunities, events, and jobs.

NRiPN is free to join and open to all postgraduate and early career researchers at a university on the N8 PRP footprint (including non-N8 universities). Find out more here.