Biography
Faculty Head of Teaching Quality and Learning Enhancement
International Recruitment and Partnerships Office
I currently serve as the Faculty Head of Teaching Quality and Learning Enhancement within the International Recruitment and Partnerships Office. In this role, I am responsible for overseeing all quality assurance matters related to our international and UK-based academic partnerships.
In addition, I am a Senior Lecturer in Criminology and Policing within the Department of Sociological and Psychological Sciences, specialising in policing and criminal justice.
Previously, I was a Senior Police Officer with Strathclyde Police, retiring in 2010 after 30 years of service. During my career, I held several key roles, including Deputy Manager of the Community Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV)—a multi-agency programme aimed at reducing gang violence in Glasgow, adapted from a successful model in Cincinnati, USA.
My research interests centre on international criminal justice policy transfer, particularly in violence prevention. My PhD was an in-depth case study examining the transfer of the CIRV model from Cincinnati to Glasgow.
I have a broad interest in policing research and have recently conducted studies on the policing of parades and demonstrations, as well as citizen engagement in policing.
I was a Co-Investigator on a multi-university project examining the impact of organised crime on Scottish communities, which reported to the Scottish Government in May 2018. I also serve as an academic advisor to the National Violence Prevention Board.
In July 2018, I was appointed as a Consultant by Northamptonshire Police to advise on the development of a gang violence reduction programme, drawing on my policing experience and doctoral research.
I conducted an evaluation of Braveheart Industries (Street & Arrow Café) on behalf of the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit. This social enterprise supports the rehabilitation of ex-offenders through workplace training. The evaluation report was completed in April 2020.
I also led a major evaluation project for Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority, assessing the Mobile Working Project, which replaced traditional paper notebooks with mobile devices. The final report was submitted in December 2020.
Currently, I am a Co-Investigator on a large-scale evaluation of focused deterrence strategies across five UK sites—this is the most extensive evaluation of its kind globally.
I am an Associate Member of the Scottish Centre for Criminal Justice Research and a member of the Scottish Institute for Policing Research (SIPR), where I sit on the Education and Leadership Network.
