EVENTBRITE REGISTERATION

REGISTER

The SIPR Scottish International Policing Conference has become a key event in the SIPR calendar and we are disappointed that we are unable to host a physical event this year. However, SIPR is keen to provide a space where academics, practitioners, and policy makers can come together to share learning and exchange ideas on key policing issues and research priorities.
In lieu of our annual conference, this year SIPR will be organising an online event.
The purpose of the event will be to bring together academics, practitioners and policy makers to discuss research priorities and develop project ideas.

The focus of this event will be on the ‘Future of Policing’ to tie in with the launch of our ‘Future of Policing’ research grant. This grant will seek applications for research projects focussed on addressing and exploring the challenges and emerging issues related to the future of Policing within Scotland, but which may also have relevance internationally.

Future of policing projects should also align with the three SIPR Strategic Research Themes:

  • Policing and health, safety and well-being (e.g. role of policing within the wider system);
  • Technology and digital policing (e.g. digital transformation and cyber); and
  • Policing systems capability and resilience (e.g. workforce and demand).

These themes have been developed in collaboration with Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority, and align with policing priorities for Scotland (see the Joint Strategy for Policing 2020 and Strategic Police Priorities for Scotland).

We are particularly keen to encourage anyone with an idea for research to come along and bring your idea for discussion and development. If you would like to submit an idea for discussion at one of the breakout sessions, please complete the relevant questions in the eventbrite form. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch at m.boyle@napier.ac.uk

Running Order

The event will run from 10:00 and finish around 13:00
Participants will be able to log in through a WebEx link provided closer to the time.
StartEndSessionSpeakersOrganisation
10:0010:10Welcome and event opening with formal launch of Future of Policing Research GrantDr Liz AstonSIPR
10:1010:40'Future of Policing' Discussion PanelDavid CrichtonScottish Police Authority
   Kirsty-Louise CampbellPolice Scotland
   Gill ImeryHMICS
10:4011:15

Special guest speaker: Nicholas Pole

Taking the Longview: Policing into 2040

Nic PoleCollege of Policing
11:1511:30BREAK
11:3012:45RESEARCH IDEAS DEVELOPMENT BREAKOUT SESSIONS
  Session 1: Policing and health, safety and well-beingLesley McMillanSIPR/ GCU
   Barry SillersScottish Police Authority
  
John FirmanAmerica University, USA
  Session 2: Technology and digital policing; andMegan O'NeillSIPR
   Martin SmithScottish Police Authority
   Tom NelsonScottish Police Authority Forensic Services
  
TBCTBC
  Session 3: Policing systems capability and resilienceDenise MartinSIPR 
   Darren PatersonScottish Police Authority
   Victoria HerringtonAustralian Institute of Police Management, Australia
12:4513:00Closing session including summary of discussion points and Q&A session

Speakers

Dr Liz Aston, SIPR Director, Edinburgh Napier University

Dr Liz Aston has been an active member of the SIPR research community since its establishment and she was appointed as Director of SIPR in June 2018, succeeding its founding Director, Prof Nick Fyfe. She has recently been appointed by the Scottish Government to chair an Independent Advisory Group on New and Emerging Technologies in Policing.

Liz has a a strong record of collaborative research on local policing both in Scotland and in Europe, including involvement in major international projects on community policing and stop and search. She is also highly experienced in knowledge exchange and in building strong research-practitioner relationships. She is an Associate Professor of Criminology and was, until her SIPR appointment, Head of Social Sciences at Edinburgh Napier.

David Crichton, Interim Chair of the Scottish Police Authority

David joined the Authority in June 2018 and he has held a number of non-executive positions in the public, private and charity sectors. David was Chair of NHS Health Scotland from 2016 until 31 March 2020. He is also a current member of the Scotland Committee of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, having been appointed in January 2017.

Prior to his public appointments, David worked as an international development advisor for nine years, primarily in Afghanistan and Montserrat and also in Tanzania and the Balkans. He was also previously Director for Country and Economic Research at the Economist Intelligence Unit, Chief Executive of the Confederation of Forest Industries and Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian.

Kirsty-Louise Campbell, Head of Strategy Insight and Innovation, Police Scotland

Kirsty-Louise Campbell, Head of Strategy and Innovation at Police Scotland, is an experienced leader, developing successful strategy, insight, innovation and transformation across a number of sectors.  Experience includes leading the successful re-design and transformation of a major public sector body and leading award winning strategy and insight services.  In Police Scotland, Kirsty-Louise has developed the overarching strategic outcomes for policing along with new strategies for public contact and engagement and cyber along with building capability and capacity in policing for public engagement, insight and innovation. 

Gill Imery QPM, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland

Since April 2018, Gill has been Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland, which is an independent role under Royal Warrant. She is also Scotland’s senior advisor on policing. The Inspectorate has wide ranging powers to assess the state, effectiveness and efficiency of both Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority.  Immediately prior to this appointment, Gill was the deputy at HMICS for two years, on secondment from Police Scotland. 

Over her 30 years of police service, she served in a wide range of uniform and detective posts, notably as the commander of the city of Edinburgh division, and the head of CID for Lothian and Borders Police.  When Police Scotland was introduced in 2013, she served in a national role as the Detective Chief Superintendent for public protection and local crime, before taking command of the Lothians and Scottish Borders division.

Nicholas Pole, Principal Analyst (Futures), College of Policing

Nic Pole is one of the authors of the College of Policing’s recent futures report ‘Policing in England and Wales: Future Operating Environment (FOE) 2040’. FOE 2040 explores how policing’s operating environment might change over the next 20 years and considers what that change might mean for policing today.

As the College’s lead on futures work, Nic and his team use ‘futures’ concepts, theories and methods to map possible future developments in order to inform present-day decision-making.

Professor Lesley McMillan, SIPR Associate Director for Public Protection Network, Glasgow Caledonian University

Lesley McMillan is Professor of Criminology and Sociology at Glasgow Caledonian University; she is SIPR Associate Director for the Public Protection Network. Her research interests surround gender inequality and crime and justice. In particular, she is interested in institutional responses to gendered and sexual violence, including policing, forensic medical examination and evidence, and victim experience. She also has a research interest in violence prevention, and the use and role of technology in sexual violence perpetration, intervention and prevention. She has an ongoing interest in missing persons, adult protection and mental health, and is a qualified BACP psychotherapist.

Barry Sillers, Deputy Chief Executive of Strategy and Performance, Scottish Police Authority

Barry’s career is best described as the development and delivery of strategic change across UK and NATO miltary operations, the NHS, Health and Social Care and Policing. Barry joined the Police Authority in January 2019 from the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board where he led the development of the Future Strategy for Health and Social Care. His early career as an Royal Naval Officer saw varied service ranging from operational action in Bosnia, through the “cold war” leading submarine operations in support of the UK strategic deterrent and intelligence gathering programmes, to later specialising in the insertion and recovery of special forces. In 2006, Barry joined NATO in a senior post with responsibility for the combat readiness of the NATO Response Force and was subsequently awarded the NATO Meritorious Service medal by the Secretary General for his outstanding contribution to NATO.

In 2008, Barry joined the senior team in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde where he was responsible for the Board’s hospital transformation programmes. Barry is also the Chair of Foundation Scotland, Scotland's Community Foundation, an independent charity established to build resilence and strengthen local leadership in communities which has distributed around £11 million each year to charities and community groups across Scotland. Foundation Scotland has played a leading role in Scotland's response to the COVID-19 pandemic being the sole partner to the National Emergencies Trust in Scotland and Chairing the cross sector Scottish Emergencies Funding Advisory Board.

Professor John Firman (American University, USA)

John R. Firman is a Professor of Practice at American University, in the School of Public Affairs, Department of Justice, Law and Criminology. Prior to joining AU, he served as Director of Research (1994-2016), and Director of Strategic Partnerships (2016-2018) for the International Association of Chiefs of Police. IACP is one of the world’s largest and most influential police leadership organizations, with 30,000 members representing 120 countries. His duties included development and implementation of a national and international law enforcement policy research and evaluation program. He helped create and manage the National Law Enforcement Policy Summit Series, addressing current and emerging issues in the policing profession. 

Dr Megan O'Neill, SIPR Associate Director for Police-Community Relations Network, University of Dundee

Megan O'Neill is a Reader at the University of Dundee and has an extensive background of policing research with a focus on issues of social interaction in policing, both within the organisation and with the public and partners. Her work has included studies of football policing, Black Police Associations, community policing, partnership working and Police Community Support Officers. She is part of the Unity Project, funded by the European Commission's Horizon 2020 programme, to study community policing and its adaptation to the new challenges of policing neighbourhoods across the EU. She was appointed as the SIPR Associate Director for the Police-Community Relations Network in August 2018.

Martin Smith, Strategy Programme Lead, Scottish Police Authority

Martin is responsible for supporting the Authority’s strategic development and overall approach to commissioning research and evidence gathering activities and using insights from analysis to shape planning.  He has been at the Authority since 2015, having worked previously in a data analytics and strategic intelligence capacity in a number of UK police forces, including Police Scotland, Strathclyde Police, and Bedfordshire Police extending back to 2003.  His background prior to joining the world of policing is in social geography and demography, having been a Postgraduate Researcher at the University of Oxford’s Department of Social Policy and Social Work.

Tom Nelson, Director of Forensic Services, Scottish Police Authority

Tom Nelson has been a Forensic Scientist for 25 years. Fifteen of those years were spent with the Northern Ireland Forensic Science Laboratory. He started work in chemistry but later developed an expertise in fire investigation. He has also worked extensively in the paint, glass and general chemistry departments. He has been heavily involved in shaping the new forensic service over the past few years. Tom previously held the post of head of Lothian Borders Police Forensic Science Support Department and has recently been appointed Director of the new Scottish Forensic Science Service.

Professor Denise Martin, SIPR Associate Director for Education and Leadership Network, Abertay University

Denise Martin has been Professor of Criminology at Abertay University since 2019.  Prior to this she worked at a number of insitutions including the Open University, UWS, University of Brighton and Middlsex University.  Her main research interests are in the area of policing and penology.  She has been involved in a range of research projects and evalutations and worked with a range of agencies, including the Home Office, Scottish Prison Service, Police Scotland, Mayors Office for Policing and Crime and National Police Chieif Council.  She is specifically interested in the intersection and Law Enforcement and Public Health and is part of the Special Interest Group for Education for GLEPHA.  She has been the Associate Director of the Education and Leadership Network for the Scottish Institute of Police Research since 2016 and is interested in Police Learning and Development and organisational culture and change.

Dr Victoria Herrington, Director of Knowledge, Australian Institute of Police Management

Dr Victoria Herrington is Director of Research and Learning at the Australian Institute of Police Management, a role she has held since 2011, prior to which she was Adjunct Professor at Western Sydney University. She is an applied criminologist, working at the intersect between the academic and public safety practitioner worlds. She is committed to supporting excellence in professional practice, and believes that academic insights from across a range of disciplines have much to offer those working in public safety. Her particular areas of interest include leadership and management, leader and leadership development, organisational justice, strategic policing partnerships, and the policing of vulnerable groups.

Darren Paterson, Head of HR Governance, Scottish Police Authority

Darren is an experienced HR professional, with approximately 20 years' experience, the majority of which has been gained within the public sector across health, local and national government sectors, during which time he has held roles leading organisational human resource management and health and safety functions; providing organisational development support in the establishment of new Health & Social Care Partnerships; and developing national workforce strategy and policy across NHS Scotland. Having joined the Scottish Police Authority in 2018, Darren is the Head of Workforce Governance, responsible for the development and implementation of workforce governance frameworks, and resulting strategic programmes of governance, scrutiny and audit, and providing strategic support and advice to SPA Members, to ensure the effective oversight and quality assurance of relevant Authority/Police Scotland activities. Key areas of interest and experience include workforce governance, strategic workforce planning, organisational development, employee engagement and wellbeing, and employee relations. Darren is a Member of the Chartered Institute for Personnel & Development and is also a qualified coach.