New centre to drive collaboration across academia and policing

The nine new centres will drive collaboration between academia and policing after they launch in October 2025. They will ensure policing is shaped by the latest and best scientific expertise, and that the UK’s leading researchers are able to challenge and innovate in partnership with policing as they strive to improve public safety. 

Expertise in modern policing

Built on two decades of work together through initiatives such as the N8 Policing Research Partnership and the ESRC Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre, the new centre in Yorkshire will draw on York’s and Leeds’ expertise in innovative partnerships, co-production and knowledge exchange across academia and policing. 

It will offer extensive expertise in four key areas of modern policing: crime prevention, public trust, data analytics and climate change. The new centre will also oversee a fund to support research and evidence synthesis aligned with these policing priorities.

York and Leeds are home to internationally renowned existing centres of research excellence from across both institutions with relevance for the future of policing, including the York Environmental Sustainability Institute, the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination at York, the Leeds Institute for Data Analytics and Priestley Centre for Climate Futures at Leeds. 

Understanding what works

Professor Adam Crawford from the University of York’s School of Law, has been appointed to lead the new centre, alongside Professor Dan Birks at the University of Leeds.  

Professor Crawford said: “Our new Policing-Academic Centre of Excellence will harness and magnify key research findings emerging from the Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre’s programme, including work on public trust and confidence in policing and our comprehensive data analytics programme. 

“We hope that this collaborative investment will enable policing to build resilience, prepare for future challenges and advance a better understanding of what works.”

Dr Nadia Jessop, Lecturer in Psychology in Education in the Department of Education at York is also a member of the senior leadership team of the new P-ACE and will lead on the theme of public trust and confidence in policing.

New technologies, new tools and techniques

Each Policing Academic Centre of Excellence will be promoted across the policing sector as an accessible source of leading academic experts aligned with Policing’s Areas of Research Interest (ARIs) and evidence needs.

The P-ACEs will support policing to adopt new technologies, develop new tools and techniques, improve training and skills, and increase public safety.

The Policing-Academic Centre of Excellence based at the Universities of Leeds and York will provide expertise in the following key areas of research interest:

• Crime Prevention: county lines; online child sexual exploitation; domestic abuse; modern slavery, mental health; violence against women and girls; knife crime; domestic violence; child-to-parent violence; youth crime, anti-social behaviour and early intervention.
• Public Trust: public perceptions; police legitimacy; minimum policing standards; procedural justice; trust and confidence among minoritised and marginalised communities.
• Data Analytics: spatio-temporal concentrations of crime; public-service data linkage; crime risk forecasting; AI-driven analyses of unstructured police data; police demand modelling; risk assessment tools.
• Climate Change: responding to global warming; scenario planning; climate adaptation; climate mitigation and sustainable policing futures; partnership working and community resilience; net zero challenges.

A better justice system

Stian Westlake, Executive Chair of the Economic and Social Research Council, said: “The Policing Academic Centres of Excellence will forge closer relationships between police forces and researchers, providing the police with data and evidence to make the justice system work better. 

“By bringing experts in policing practice together with social scientists and data scientists across the country, the centres will provide knowledge and insights to drive service improvement.

“These centres of excellence demonstrate our commitment to reducing crime and making Britain a safer place.”

Deep and lasting partnerships

Professor Paul Taylor, Police Chief Scientific Adviser, said: “Academia and policing have a long history of collaborative working on issues as diverse as forensic science, crime prevention, and analytical technologies.

“The P-ACEs will fortify this connection, providing a focal point for research and knowledge exchange.I’m particularly excited about what the P-ACEs can bring to early career scientists who are interested in tackling the complex challenge of keeping the UK public safe.

“The P-ACE community will, I hope, provide them more opportunities and greater support as we look to forge deep and lasting partnerships over the next decade.”