Adam Crawford

Profile

Biography

Professor Adam Crawford

BA Law & Sociology (Warwick), MPhil Criminology (Cambridge), PhD (Leeds), FAcSS

Fellow of the British Academy & Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences

Chair in Policing and Social Justice, and Deputy Associate Dean for Research (Impact and Knowledge Exchange) in the Faculty of Social Sciences

I joined York Law School in August 2022. Prior to this I worked for 30 years at the University of Leeds where I remain employed 25% of my time as Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice in the School of Law. At Leeds, I was the Director of the Leeds Social Sciences Institute (2015-21), Pro-Dean for Research & Innovation (2012-15) in the Faculty of Social Sciences, Director of the Centre for Criminal Justice Studies (2005-2011) and Director of Research in the School of Law (2001-204). I was the Leeds lead for the ESRC White Rose Doctoral Training Partnership (2016-21) and lead investigator on the ESRC Impact Acceleration Account (2015-22). I was the founding Director of the N8 Policing Research Partnership (2013-2020), a collaboration between the eight research-intensive universities in the north of England (including York) and 12 northern police forces and partners. I started my academic career as a Research Fellow at Middlesex University (1987-1988) and as Lecturer/Senior Lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire (1988-1992).

I am co-Director of the ESRC Vulnerability and Policing Futures Research Centre, a £10 million investment which commenced in May 2022 and is hosted by the Universities of York and Leeds. I am also Co-Director of The Yorkshire Policing-Academic Centre of Excellence, which combines multi-disciplinary research and innovation from the University of Leeds and the University of York to equip police and partners across the UK with the best research evidence available to drive forward a culture change in policing. I serve as a member of the Police Science Council, which provides independent advice to the National Police Chiefs’ Council in the UK on science, technology, analysis and research matters relevant to policing policy and operations. 

I was a Law sub-panel member and Interdisciplinary Advisor for the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 and before that was on the Law Sub-panel for REF 2014. I am an Honorary Lifetime member of the British Society of Criminology and was the recipient of the Society's Outstanding Achievement Award 2026. In 2018, I was Distinguished Professorial Visiting Fellow at UNSW and Visiting Professor at Griffith University and the University of Buenos Aires.

University roles

• Deputy Associate Dean for Research (Impact & Knowledge Exchange) in the Faculty of Social Sciences
• 'Vulnerability and Social Justice' Theme Lead for the ESRC Impact Acceleration Account
• Member of University Research Committee and University Research Forum

Research

Overview

My research focus has been on policing, urban security, crime prevention, anti-social behaviour, victims of crime, restorative justice and the regulation of public spaces, working closely with a range of external partners. More recently, my research has focused on both building the evidence base through mechanisms of co-production and translating research knowledge to effect change in frontline policing and community safety partnerships.

I have successfully managed/completed high profile studies, securing over £24 million in external funding, mostly as Principal Investigator. My research has been funded by the ESRC, AHRC, the Nuffield Foundation, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Leverhulme Trust, the British Council, the Higher Education Funding Council, the Home Office, the Northern Ireland Office and the European Commission.

I am co-Director of the new ESRC Vulnerability and Policing Futures Research Centre, which commenced in May 2022, with £10 million from the ESRC to advance a programme of interdisciplinary research with a team of 26 Co-Is and supported by match funding of over £1 million from 38 regional, national and international project partners. I am also Co-Director of The Yorkshire Policing-Academic Centre of Excellence funded by UKRI & NPCC as a vital link between academics and UK police, making sure that policing is guided by the latest scientific evidence. By working in partnership, TYP-ACE enables leading researchers across the universities of Leeds and York to innovate and challenge existing practices to improve public safety. It provides national and international leadership in some of the most pressing issues in policing, including crime prevention, public trust, analytics and climate change. In 2013, I established and led the N8 Policing Research Partnership (N8 PRP) and was PI on the £7.4 million HEFCE/OfS Catalyst Grant supporting a 5 year programme of research co-production and knowledge exchange (2015-2020). 

I recently completed a major EU funded project IcARUS ‘Innovative Approaches to Urban Security’ (2020-24) coordinated by the European Forum for Urban Security working with a large pan-European consortium  to deliver innovative urban security in six city - Lisbon, Nice, Riga, Rotterdam, Stuttgart & Turin. On the project, I led a major review of the urban security knowledge base which has now been published on the consortium website, see here as well as the evaluation of the initiatives. I also recently completed a project for the Cabinet Office Evaluation Accelerator Fund (led by Professor Sid Bandyopadhyay at Birmingham University) on the use of Out of Court Resolutions.

Publications

Selected publications

• Yardimci, O., Devany, C., Kammersgaard, T., Brown, K. and Crawford, A., (2026) ‘Vulnerability and Policing: The Views of Service Providers and Users’, British Journal of Criminology.
• Rowlands, D., Weirich C.A., Bradford, B., and Crawford, A., (2025) ‘“Should I call the police?” Exploring public views on whether to invoke police in incidents involving people with vulnerabilities’, British Journal of Criminology. 
• Bradford, B., Rowlands, D., Weirich C.A. and Crawford, A. (2025)  ‘What Service Should Police Provide? Towards A Minimum Policing Standard’, Policing & Society, 35(7): 1001-1018.
• Crawford, A., ‘Vulnerability and Policing: Rethinking the Role and Limits of the Police’, The Political Quarterly, 95(3): 431-441, 2024. 
• Crawford, A., (2023) ‘Reflections on Developments in Urban Security across Europe over the last 30 Years: Trends and Enduring Tensions’, Italian Review of Criminology, 17(3): 168-179.
• Crawford, A. (2020) ‘Societal Impact as “Rituals of Verification” or the Co-production of Knowledge?’, British Journal of Criminology, 60(3): 493-518.
• Crawford, A. (2020) ‘Effecting Change in Policing Through Police/Academic Partnerships’, in N. Fielding, et al. (eds) Critical Reflections on Evidence-Based Policing, Routledge, 175-197.
• Barker, A., Crawford, A., Booth, N. & Churchill, D. (2020) ‘Park Futures’, Urban Studies, 57(12), 2456–2472

External activities

Memberships

• Member of the Police Science Council and Non-Executive Director to the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) (2022-)
• Member of the NPCC Trust and Confidence Symposium (2025-) and Academic Advisory Group (2026-)
• Sub-panel Member and Interdisciplinary Advisor for Law (UoA 18) for REF 2021
• Honorary Lifetime Member of the British Society of Criminology
• Member of the University of York Research Committee

Editorial duties

• International Advisory Board member of Policing & Society; the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology; and Criminology & Criminal Justice.