As the Director of the Tasmanian Institute of Law Enforcement Studies and Head of Discipline for Policing at the University of Tasmania, Associate Professor Isabelle Bartkowiak-Théron, PhD, leads innovative research and educational initiatives aimed at addressing critical issues at the intersection of policing and public health. Internationally recognized for her expertise in police tertiary education, Dr. Bartkowiak-Théron is a leading authority on law enforcement and public health, with a focus on vulnerable people and trauma-informed policing. She plays a pivotal role within the Global Law Enforcement and Public Health Association as its Vice President, and she heads up the Special Interest Group on Education. Dr. Bartkowiak-Théron's studies began in the French military and culminated in a PhD from La Sorbonne-Paris IV, followed by post-doctoral studies at the prestigious institutions such as the Australian National University (RegNet, under the headship of Prof Clifford Shearing, Prof Peter Grabosky and Prof Jennifer D Wood) and the University of Montréal (CICC, with Prof Mylène Jaccoud). Her diverse research background includes work on how policing fits in with community and restorative justice, as well as extensive fieldwork in Cape Town, South Africa, focusing on policing in disadvantaged communities. Dr. Bartkowiak-Théron spent a decade coordinating the Tasmania Police Recruit Course, fostering the development of future law enforcement professionals. Her expertise extends to research ethics. She has been serving as the deputy chair of the Tasmanian Human Research Ethics Committee since 2018. Beyond academia, Dr. Bartkowiak-Théron's influence extends to occasional international consultancy roles with organizations like the UNODC, where she advises on matters of vulnerability and curriculum development. She also contributes her expertise to numerous editorial committees of international journals, and serves on various charitable, professional, and research governance boards. Prior to joining the University of Tasmania, Isabelle was a senior lecturer at Charles Sturt University, and taught at the New South Wales Police College in Goulburn.

Fiona brings more than 20 years’ experience in the charity sector and in her current role at Alzheimer Scotland, heads up the development and innovation of new ways the charity can support vulnerable people in Scotland’s communities who are affected by dementia.

I joined Lothian and Borders Police (now Police Scotland) in 1996. Since joining I have undertaken a variety of different operational policing roles including Response Policing, Community Policing and roles specialising in policing the city centre and responding to youth disorder. For the past 9 years I have been the Missing Persons Operational Coordinator for Edinburgh Division. This role involves maintaining an overview of missing persons incident demand for the city and working with partner agencies, such as the Local Authority and the NHS, to reduce the demand and to improve how we respond to all missing persons incidents.

I am an Associate Professor of Criminology at Edinburgh Napier University and the Head of Social Sciences and former Programme Leader for BSc (Hons) Policing and Criminology. In the past 5 years, I have completed 3 externally funded projects as PI (totalling £33,000), the most recent of which examined the Special Constabulary in Scotland. I have also been Co-I on a further 3 projects (totalling £308,800). As a result of my research and publications, I have been invited to sit on the Home Office Custody Review Design Board, the editorial board for two book series and the international advisory panel for a research project at the University of Sheffield. I am also the co-lead for the Education and Leadership network within the Scottish Institute of Policing Research (SIPR) and I am a member of the British Society of Criminology. I currently supervise 4 PhD students, on who has just completed his corrections. My research interests are varied and interdisciplinary, informed by extending theoretical developments in criminology, geography and rural sociology. I am interested in how the police use their power in different ways and on different populations, particularly in relation to rural policing, police custody, and the use of police volunteers.

Liz Aston is a Professor of Criminology at Edinburgh Napier University and has been the Director of the Scottish Institute for Policing Research (SIPR) since 2018. Her expertise centres on local policing and her current research focuses on technology in policing, and the intersect between policing and drugs. In 2021 Liz was awarded an ESRC Open Call Grant as Principal Investigator for the INTERACT project. In addition she is a Co-Investigator on the EPSRC-funded 3PO project and on the Scottish Drug Checking project. Liz has a strong record of collaborative research on policing both in Scotland and in Europe and is experienced in knowledge exchange and building research-practitioner relationships. In 2020 she was appointed by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice to establish and Chair an Independent Advisory Group on Emerging Technologies in Policing. Liz is the co-editor of Palgrave’s Critical Policing Studies Series and sits on a number of governance and advisory boards, including for the ESRC Vulnerability and Policing Futures Research Centre, Scottish Violence Reduction Unit and Police Scotland’s Drug Strategy Board. Prior to her SIPR role, she was Head of Social Sciences at Edinburgh Napier University.

Megan M. Parry, (PhD), is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Rhode Island.  Her research draws on theories of police legitimacy, social cognition, and media studies and focuses on public perceptions of policing. Her current research examines policing and disabled populations, in particular autistic and Deaf and hard of hearing communities experiences and perceptions of the police. Her work has been published in Crime and Delinquency, Law & Society Review, Justice Quarterly.

Dr. Valerie Houghton is a nurse lecturer at Edinburgh Napier University with extensive experience teaching student learning disability nurses and social workers. Valerie is qualified learning disability nurse, specialist practitioner, and ex-police officer.  She completed her PhD researching disablist hate crime at Lancaster University Law School with Prof. Paul Iganski and Dr. Thaddeus Muller. Valerie is passionate about social justice, and her research focuses on disablist hate crime, stigma, and culture in care facilities.

Dr Nadine Dougall is Professor of Mental Health & Data Science within the School of Health & Social Care at Edinburgh Napier University and Co-Director of the Scottish Centre for Policing & Public Health, an international academic and practice collaboration. Nadine’s research focuses on investigating outcomes for people, services, and care pathways in policing and public health, suicide, vulnerability, and multi-agency response to suicidal behaviour, mental health distress and substance use.

In 2023 Assistant Chief Constable Gary Ritchie was appointed the Executive Lead for Operational Support. His role is integral to enhancing policing nationally by providing specialist policing functions, support and assistance to Local Policing. The portfolio is split into three distinct areas of business namely, Specialist Services, Emergency Events and Resilience Planning (EERP), and Road Policing. ACC Ritchie joined Strathclyde Police in 1991 and was a Superintendent leading the Local Policing Development and Support Team at the inception of Police Scotland in 2013. He was promoted to Chief Superintendent and appointed Divisional Commander of Dumfries and Galloway in 2016. From 2018, he worked in Operational Change and Resilience. In 2019 he was promoted to Assistant Chief Constable and as ACC for Partnership Partnerships, Prevention and Community Wellbeing was responsible for developing innovative approaches, based around principles of public health and working with other public services to achieve better outcomes for communities. ACC Ritchie led on  groundbreaking initiatives including the rollout of Naloxone to every operational police officer in Scotland, the establishment of the Police Scotland / Public Health Scotland collaboration and the development of initiatives to reduce vulnerability in communities. ACC Ritchie also had responsibility for international policing development and established the Police Scotland International Academy, overseeing Police Scotland’s contribution to capacity building in developing countries across the world and instituting International Policing Leadership programmes with other forces and governments across the globe. He has extensive experience as a major events commander, Strategic Firearms Commander, and Gold Public Order Commander.

Dr Inga Heyman (Associate Professor, Policing and Public Health), Edinburgh Napier University,  is a Fellow of the Global Law Enforcement and Public Health Association (GLEPHA) and Honorary member of the UK Faculty of Public Health. Inga is a registered Adult and Mental Health Nurse and qualitative researcher, with a clinical, educational and research career in Australia and Scotland. Inga's professional practice, teaching and research focus lies at the intersect of policing and public health. This is underpinned by clinical practice across a broad range of health, police and public protection services including emergency mental health, substance use, sexual and maternal health and police custody. Inga is Co-Director of the Scottish Centre for Policing & Public Health, and lead for interprofessional learning. Inga works with a range of national and international partners in an advisory capacity to support policy, practice, and research development.  She enjoys a strong and continued affiliation with the Scottish Institute for Policing Research (SIPR) and Police Scotland.

As a Register Mental Health Nurse, I have dedicated much of my career to justice settings. My passion lies within improving health outcomes and opportunities for disadvantaged and vulnerable groups, whilst acting as an advocate for patients and staff alike. Earlier this year I was delighted to be appointed to the Clinical Lead post for the National Police Care Network, and looking forward to contributing towards improving service user experience for those that come into contact with Police Custody Centres.