Professor
Police Culture, Police Knowledge, Police Education, Police Professionalisation, Police Leadership
Tom began his post-doctoral career at the University of Kent working on the evaluation of Code F of PACE and, subsequently, on Project Enhance. He then moved to Canterbury Christ Church University where he developed the MA in Criminology and Criminal Justice and led the Department of Law and Criminal Justice Studies' development of a post graduate research programme and oversaw the introduction and support of its first PhD students. Simultaneously, he acted as Deputy Director of Criminal Justice Practice within the Department which saw Tom and Professor Robin Bryant working upon a range of knowledge transfer and research projects with a host of international policing agencies such as Europol and the Bundeskriminalamt..
In 2014 Tom moved to Leeds Beckett University where he undertook a
more...Tom began his post-doctoral career at the University of Kent working on the evaluation of Code F of PACE and, subsequently, on Project Enhance. He then moved to Canterbury Christ Church University where he developed the MA in Criminology and Criminal Justice and led the Department of Law and Criminal Justice Studies' development of a post graduate research programme and oversaw the introduction and support of its first PhD students. Simultaneously, he acted as Deputy Director of Criminal Justice Practice within the Department which saw Tom and Professor Robin Bryant working upon a range of knowledge transfer and research projects with a host of international policing agencies such as Europol and the Bundeskriminalamt..
In 2014 Tom moved to Leeds Beckett University where he undertook a range of roles including Reader and Head of Subject before being promoted to Professor in 2022. During this time, apart from an array of leadership roles, he undertook funded research projects (ranging in focus from cyber crime to street populations) including one exploring police experiences of HE which was funded by a Mid Career Prize awarded by Leeds Beckett University. As a result of this research, Tom was invited to join the National Police Learning and Development Transformation Working Group.
Tom's research career has seen him engage with a wide range of challenges for police organisations including, for example, developing effective police cybercrime training both in the UK and internationally; the impact of police dispersal powers on young people; the experiences of police officers studying on Higher Education programmes; the impact of visual recording of police/suspect interviews and the challenges of applying NPM to police contexts. He has a track record of successful engagement and completion of contracts with a number of police and criminal justice organisations both in UK and international contexts (including West Yorkshire Police, Europol, the Home Office and the Bundeskriminalamt [the German Federal Police]).
Most recently, he has been seconded to the Open University’s Centre for Policing Research and Learning to lead the first national research programme into police tutoring, As of November 2022, he expanded his work with the Open University to lead a project assisting forces with understanding how to assess formal and peer learning in RASSO investigations and to develop protocols to support the practical implementation of these insights.
PGCLT (HE) (2007), Canterbury Christ Church University.
PhD (2001), An Investigation into the Culture of the London Metropolitan Police between the 1930s and the 1960s, Brunel University (External Examiner, Professor Robert Reiner, London School of Economics).
MSc. (Econ.) (1995), Pass, Criminology and Criminal Justice, Cardiff University.
BSc. (Hons) 2:i (1993), Behavioural Sciences, University of Huddersfield.