Being There: Ethnography and the Study of Policing
The Police Ethnography Research Collaboration (PERC) along with the International Criminological Research Unit and the College of Policing organised a two day conference on 18th and 19th January to explore the value of ethnographic approaches for enhancing understanding of policing.
The conference was held at Blackburne House and started with an opening welcome from Paul Quinton, Evidence and Evaluation Advisor at the College of Policing, who emphasised the College’s commitment to ethnographic research. Delegates also heard from Simon Holdaway, Professor of Criminology at Nottingham Trent University, who spoke about the validity of ethnography and the importance of first hand observation in research.
Over the course of the two days, a number of researchers and policing practitioners discussed various themes including ethical and methodological challenges facing ethnographers, current agendas in policing and the place of ethnography as evidence.
At the end of the first day, there was a drinks reception hosted by the Journal of Organizational Ethnography (JOE). JOE is the only journal that is specifically dedicated to the theme of organizational ethnography and provides an opportunity for scholars from all social and management science disciplines.
Dr Mike Rowe, Lecturer in Public Sector Management at the Management School and co-founder of JOE, commented on the event, "Academically it demonstrated the rude good health of ethnographic research and there is demand for an annual gathering. But perhaps most significant was the presence of practitioners from police services and from the College of Policing. They have taken from the event an understanding of the profound insight that ethnography allows as a form of evidence about police practice. We hope for more to come from our collaboration with the College."
The conference concluded with its final keynote speaker Bethan Loftus, Senior Lecturer in Social Policy and Criminal Justice at Bangor University, who discussed ethnography with covert police, followed by final remarks from PERC co-founders Geoff Pearson, University of Manchester, and Liz Turner, University of Liverpool.