Friday 31 January 2025 | 13:00-14:30 | The Junction - Room JX2.02 | Speaker - Christopher Brian, The Undercover Research Group

Between 1968 and 2010 hundreds of groups and thousands of individuals on the left of the political spectrum were targeted by intrusive police surveillance in what has become known as the Spycops scandal.

The author's organisation, the Undercover Research Group, at first concentrated on supporting those activists most effected by the surveillance – and worked piecing together the fragmentary and limited evidence that was in the public domain before the Undercover Policing Inquiry began. Now, with thousands of documents and hundreds of hours of testimony available, they work to assist activists in the inquiry, by collating and summarising this huge and unprecedented release of information detailing the workings of the secret state. Chris will give an overview of this work – as well as the potential research questions posed by this evidence.

This event is free of charge and open to all.

The seminar will be followed by tea, coffee and cake.

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This term we are launching an occasional blog series highlighting the research of COPR members. We are delighted that our inaugural COPR blog has been written by Rebecca Plimmer, a doctoral student in Psychology.

She explains her in-depth research into When officers become perpetrators: Understanding violent attitudes & behaviour among those involved in UK policing and the possible implications of her research for public trust & confidence in policing. You can read her blog here.

If you would like to contribute a blog post, please do get in touch with Kim or Jackie.

Date: 10th May 2024
Time: 10:00am - 5:00pm
Venue: Social Sciences Building S0.20, The University of Warwick

There are few environments and institutions as simultaneously important and reproachful of being studied as custody and the police. Whilst it is vital that we study these spaces, actors, procedures and associated phenomena it is undoubtedly hard to do so. This is especially true on a global scale when we consider facilities like refugee detention centres and the policing of borders.

The advertised day-event, hosted by the University of Warwick on the 10th May 2024, is precluded on this idea that our shared contribution to this area of knowledge is essential to the maintenance of conceptions of justice and transparency which underpin the legitimacy of states and punishment globally

• When: Friday 7th July 2023
• Where: Warwick Business School, University of Warwick

This workshop/roundtable brings together a collective of scholars who are actively involved in policing research, with a particular focus on gender, sexuality, and the intricate relationships between humans, animals, and the environment. The event aims to foster a supportive community and provide a platform for researchers who employ embodiment and ethnographic methodologies in their investigative approaches.

When: 11:00 - 14;00 Thursday 15th June 2023

Where: S0.17

In the context both of individual instances of police brutality and malpractice, and evidence of systemic racism and discrimination in the recent Casey Review, public trust and confidence in the UK police is at a historic low.

In this event, we ask how we might understand policing – as an institution, as a ‘culture’, as a set of practices; and how we might seek to effect and embed change in policing practice going forward.

On Wednesday 8th March 2023 the CJC will be hosting a book launch to celebrate one of our members Dr. Zoha Waseem and her publication 'Insecure Guardians: Enforcement, Encounters and Everyday Policing in Postcolonial Karachi'.

The discussants for this event will be: Prof. Ana Aliverti, University of Warwick and Dr.Sobia Ahmed Kaker, University of Essex.

The police force is one of the most distrusted institutions in Pakistan, notorious for its corruption and brutality. In both colonial and postcolonial contexts, directives to confront security threats have empowered law enforcement agents, while the lack of adequate reform has upheld institutional weaknesses. This exploration of policing in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city and financial capital, reveals many colonial continuities. Both civilian and military regimes continue to ensure the suppression of the policed via this institution, itself established to militarily subjugate and exploit in the interests of the ruling class. However, contemporary policing practice is not a simple product of its colonial heritage: it has also evolved to confront new challenges and political realities. Based on extensive fieldwork and around 200 interviews, this ethnographic study reveals a distinctly ‘postcolonial condition of policing’. Mutually reinforcing phenomena of militarisation and informality have been exacerbated by an insecure state that routinely conflates combatting crime, maintaining public order and ensuring national security. This is evident not only in spectacular displays of violence and malpractice, but also in police officers’ routine work. Caught in the middle of the country’s armed conflicts, their encounters with both state and society are a story of insecurity and uncertainty.
Further information: https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/insecure-guardians/

This will be a hybrid event and we do hope that you can join us.

The event will be held in Room S2.09 and will include a wine reception from 5:30 p.m.

For those of you joining us virtually Click here to join the meeting. Link opens in a new window