Discover Our Research
Discover our research projects.
Our interdisciplinary approach to policing research enables us to create collaborative relationships with other universities, the police service and the private sector. As a result, our research is having an impact on UK policing and the criminal justice system.
Keeping us Safe?
Keeping us Safe? is a new collaboration with The Belgrade Theatre in Coventry. Using drama and other creative processes designed to engage young people in dialogue and debate, creative practitioners are working with COPR researchers Jackie Hodgson & Rachel Lewis, and two schools in the Coventry area, to question and interrogate ‘policing’ in its broadest terms.
AI Systems for Understanding and Collecting Evidence in VAWG Investigations
A team of researchers from the University of Warwick, has partnered with the Forensic Capability Network (FCN) to develop an advanced NLP-based platform that enhances the investigation of VAWG cases.
Funded by the STAR Fund, this project introduces a state-of-the-art tool designed Read more...
Coercive Control, Causation and Culpability for Offending
Vanessa Munro (with Vanessa Bettinson and Mandy Burton) have conducted a study exploring understanding of coercive control amongst police, prosecutors and members of the judiciary across Scotland, and England and Wales. As part of this work, the team explored barriers to effective identification and prosecution of coercive control.
Improving Investigation and Prosecution of Rape: CPS Operation Soteria
Vanesa Munro (with Alice King and Lotte Young Andrade) were commissioned by the Crown Prosecution Service to undertake an independent, academic review of pilot initiatives under ‘Operation Soteria’, a programme for improving the investigation and prosecution of adult rape cases in England and Wales that arose from the Ministry of Justice’s ‘End to End Rape Review’. Read more...
Body Worn Camera Evidence and Assessment of Witness Credibility
In collaboration with Prof Andrew Roberts (School of Law, University of Melbourne) and Dr Celine Van Golde (Psychology Department, University of Sydney), Professor Kim Wade (Psychology, University of Warwick) is collaborating on an Australian Research Council Discovery Project starting in mid 2024 titled "Body Worn Camera Evidence and Assessment of Witness Credibility." Read more..
Understanding violent attitudes and behaviors on UK policing
Police violence is a topic that has gained increasing academic and media attention following the high-profile deaths of Sarah Everard in the UK and George Floyd in the US, both by serving police officers. This project collected primary survey data and used use of force data from 11 police forces across England and Wales. Read more...
This doctoral study, carried out by Aura Bamber, takes a socio-legal and psychological approach to examine the on-the-ground impact of the suspect’s right to legal advice while in police custody in Scotland. The research will look at the legal, cultural and behavioural factors. Read more...
Constructing and administering identification parades
One strand of Prof Kim Wade’s research has explored how best to construct and administer identification parades. Much of this work has been conducted in collaboration with her former PhD student, Dr Melissa Colloff (now at Birmingham University) and US-based colleagues at John Jay College of Criminal Justice (Prof Deryn Strange) and UC: San Diego (Prof John Wixted). Read more..
Policing, Culture and Community
This research asks how the police can use City of Culture as a platform to engage the public, whilst also managing crime and protecting event attendees. The project explores how police partnerships around arts and culture can support crime reduction and protect vulnerable people. Read more...
Female Detainees in Police Custody
COPR researchers are investigating the experiences of female detainees in police custody. Working with academic colleagues, they have carried out a pilot study investigating the needs and experiences of female detainees. Read more...
Stop and Search Disproportionality
Black and Asian people in the West Midlands are more likely to be stopped and searched than white people. COPR researchers have investigated factors contributing to this disproportionality, utilising stop and search data from West Midlands Police. Read more...
Alcohol Related Incidents in Policing and Healthcare
This project uses data from A&E admissions and West Midlands Police to explore alcohol-related incidents in policing and emergency healthcare. This data is being used to better understand and predict alcohol-related demand in policing and healthcare. Read more...
Factors Affecting Domestic Abuse
COPR researcher Dr Anna Trendl is investigating factors affecting domestic abuse. Her previous projects have explored patterns of domestic abuse and relationships between deprivation and abuse prevalence. Read more...
Fast-and-Frugal Decision Tree for Custody Risk Assessments
COPR researchers Professor Neil Stewart and Dr Edika Quispe-Torreblanca are working with West Midlands Police to design and implement fast and frugal decision trees for improving risk assessments in custody. Read more...
Forensic Property Marking and Public Confidence in Policing
This project evaluated the impact of commercial property marking and other preventive interventions on public confidence and satisfaction with policing of burglary. Read more...
Anti-radicalisation
This project examined the workings of online radicalisation and developed tools for both identifying it and co-ordinating the work of social and policing agencies concerned with responding to it. Read more...
Ethics in the use of Detection Systems
Radio Physics Solutions has developed MiRTLE, the world’s first, high performance, long range low cost, standoff “concealed threat” detection system for the protection of citizens and infrastructure. Read more...
Online Fraud and Victimisation
This project explored online mass-marketing fraud - including how it can be identified, its psychological costs, and the ethical issues raised by its victimology. Read more...
Detecting Manipulated Digital Images
Visually compelling photographic fakes are increasing. The prevalence of manipulated photos invites an important, yet largely unanswered, question: Can people detect photo forgeries? Read more...
Visualisation of Injuries for Court Presentations
Expert testimony can be difficult to understand by juries, especially medical and pathological evidence. So how can micro-CT scans show 3D animated views of injuries to support expert witness testimony and enhance the jury's understanding of the case? Read more...
Emerging from Lockdown
This research asks how people have experienced loss of freedom during Covid restrictions, and what their new-found liberty looks like as they emerge from lockdown and return to the city. We ask how have criminal justice powers to enforce public health restrictions impacted individuals. Read more...
Police-Immigration Cooperation in UK Domestic Policing
This project documents existing arrangements and practices in the policing of immigration status, and examines the everyday operation of immigration-police cooperation in England under the remit of Operation Nexus. Read more...
Neoliberal Terror: The Radicalisation of Social Policy in Europe
This project focuses on preventing and countering violent extremism, and how programmes designed to achieve this have proliferated in Europe. The researchers are particularly interested in the discourse of 'vulnerability' which accompanies preventing/countering violent extremism. Read more...