The N8 Research Policing Partnership, which the University of Liverpool is part of, has been awarded £50,000 by the College of Policing to further links between researchers and police forces.
The funding will create a regional network for evidence-based policing to test police methods and techniques for tackling crime, and to help the police service to become more efficient.
The N8 Research Policing Partnership will work with police officers to build their knowledge of evidence-based research and give them opportunities to start research in their own area of expertise which can then be shared with colleagues in forces across the country.
Based at the University of Leeds, the partnership includes academics from universities across the north of England including the Universities of Durham, Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and York.
Professor Sandra Walklate, Head of Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology, said: “This is a great opportunity for us to do something innovative with national and international significance, which draws on the strength of the University and the other institutions, to generate an evidence-base of high quality research on which policing professionals can draw.
“We look forward to working with the College of Policing and local partners, PCCs and police forces to create a regional hub fostering experiments in research co-production, knowledge exchange and advanced training opportunities.”
Rachel Tuffin, Head of Research at the College of Policing, said: “This funding for a regional hub will be a springboard for future research allowing police officers and staff to access more evidence to help them to cut crime and keep the public safe.
“I am hugely excited by the contribution this partnership will make to the way the police service goes about its work and the benefits that will result for the service and the public.”
The N8 Research Partnership is a collaboration of the eight most research intensive universities in the North of England: Durham, Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and York.
Working with industry, N8 aims to maximise the impact of this research base by identifying and coordinating powerful research collaborations across the North of England and beyond.
