Welcome

“Evidence for the art, craft and science of policing”

The Universities’ Police Science Institute (UPSI) has achieved international renown for its innovative and ground-breaking research on policing. Based upon a unique partnership between Cardiff University, South Wales Police and the University of Glamorgan, UPSI works to develop the research evidence-base about all aspects of the art, craft and science of policing. Studies conducted by UPSI engage with theoretical, methodological and applied themes and has achieved national and international impact. The following programmes of work have been especially influential:

• Radicalisation and Preventing Violent Extremism: commissioned by the Association of Chief Police Officers our work was a key influence upon the UK government’s recent reconfiguration of the ‘prevent’ strand of the cross-government Contest strategy.
• Reassurance and Neighbourhood Policing: The UPSI team achieved international recognition for their work in developing Reassurance Policing and thus providing the intellectual architecture for the development of Neighbourhood Policing
• Community Engagement for Community Intelligence: UPSI has been working with a number of partners nationally and internationally (including Lancashire Constabulary, the London Borough of Sutton, Victoria Police – Australia, and the Police College of the Netherlands) to develop and test an innovative community engagement methodology, that supplies community intelligence about what problems function as the key drivers of insecurity across different neighbourhoods.

In addition to these areas, we also have particular expertise in the following areas, where ongoing studies are being conducted:

• Police homicide investigations, cold case reviews and the impacts upon communities of major crime events such as murders;
• The police role in counter-terrorism;
• Policing domestic violence and child protection;
• Gun crime in the United Kingdom and elsewhere;
• Violent youth gangs and crime in inner-city areas;
• Spatial analysis of crime data;
• Witness identification

Further information about what we do can be found on the pages of this web-site. Alternatively, please contact us at upsi@cardiff.ac.uk or on 02920 875440.