European perspectives on police-academic partnerships

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Abstract

This roundtable is organised by the European Society of Criminology Policing Working Group. The relationship between police and academia has often been described as a "fragile alliance" (Bacon et al., 2020) and has received much attention within our group. Despite various efforts to bridge the gap between police and academia; structural, cultural, and institutional barriers continue to hinder the development of sustainable partnerships. Existing research predominantly focuses on national contexts, lacking a systematic and comparative analysis of the factors influencing these collaborations at the European level. Consequently, there is no comprehensive framework to understand which conditions facilitate or obstruct police–academic partnerships across different countries.
This roundtable starts to address some of these gaps with the aim of building an international network of scholars around this theme. Intermediate findings will be presented by European colleagues contributing to a double special issue in 2026 on police-academic partnerships for the European Journal of Policing Studies, co-edited by Marleen Easton (University of Ghent/Belgium), Larissa Engelmann (University of Leeds/UK) and Guðmundur Ævar Oddsson (University of Akureyri /Iceland). We encourage academics from across Europe to join us and help us to develop a better understanding of police-academic partnerships, opportunities and barriers experienced across Europe, and discuss ideas for future practice.

Bacon, M., Shapland, J., Skinns, L. and White, A., 2021. Fragile alliances: culture, funding and sustainability in police–academic partnerships. Evidence & Policy, 17(1), pp.93-109.

Subtopic

• Topic 5: Social Control and Criminal Justice / Policing and Law enforcement (Policing WG)

Chair

• Marleen Easton, Universiteit Gent

Discussants

• Larissa Engelmann, University of Leeds

• Guðmundur Oddsson, University of Akureyri

• Aston Liz, Edinburgh Napier University

• Layla Skinns, University of Sheffield

• Daniela Hunold, HWR Berlin − Berlin School of Economics and Law

• Paweł Waszkiewicz, University of Warsaw, Faculty of Law and Administration