Our criminology and policing academic team here at The University of Law are dedicated to bringing their industry expertise into the classroom. All our lecturers have significant professional experience and qualifications and are committed to providing quality, inspiring education to drive your career forward. In addition to your subject lecturers, you will also be assigned a personal lecturer who is on hand to help guide you through the course.
Dr John Kerr has been Head of Policing and Criminology at The University of Law since January 2022. Prior to joining ULaw, he was Deputy Head of Social Sciences at the University of Roehampton. Before becoming Deputy Head in 2017, he was the Course Director for the BSc Criminology programme. He has also worked at City, University of London and London South Bank University. Prior to becoming an academic, John taught English in Latin America and Spain. He also worked as an art installer in London and it was this job that fuelled a fascination in art crimes. John’s research interests are in policing and criminology. His monograph on the Securitization and Policing of Art Theft in London was published in 2015. He has also published articles and chapters in leading policing and criminology journals and books, spoken at national and international conferences, and appeared in the print and television media. He has taught, developed and led programmes in criminology, policing and other social sciences.
Jennifer is a Chartered Psychologist and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She has a BSc (combined Hons) in Psychology with Criminology and Master's Degrees in both Forensic Psychology and Investigative Psychology. She has previously served in the Metropolitan Police Service as a Police Constable and has successfully passed the National Investigators Exam (NIE). As an academic, Jennifer has extensive experience of teaching in Higher Education across criminology and psychology modules at both undergraduate and postgraduate level and has successfully published in the area of terrorism and counterterrorism.
Luke completed his BA undergraduate degree in Criminology at the University of Leicester in 2013, graduating with First Class Honours. This was followed by MSc in Criminology, Criminal Justice and Social Research at the University of Surrey, for which he achieved Distinction. Luke worked for two years as a researcher at the Institute for Public Safety, Crime and Justice where he sought to translate empirical research findings into policy and practice across a range of criminal justice agencies, before returning to the University of Surrey to undertake his PhD. Luke’s doctoral research explores the response of the criminal justice system, namely the police and probation service, to LGBT hate crime. During this time, he has also undertaken a range of other projects, whilst working as a researcher for GALOP, exploring the victimisation of LGBT people online and the needs and experiences of LGBT victims of crime.
Melayna was awarded her PhD in 2019 from the University of Brighton for her thesis entitled On Order and the Exception: A Philosophical History of Police Power. The examiners recommended the doctorate be awarded summa cum laude to underline its exceptional quality. Melayna was a visiting scholar at Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, USA) in 2018 and she also holds a BA in International Relations and MA in Social and Political Thought from the University of Sussex. Her first monograph, based on her PhD thesis, is forthcoming with Bloomsbury. She is also the co-author of Policing the Pandemic: How Public Health becomes Public Order published December 2021 by Policy Press. Her work is interdisciplinary drawing on a range of disciplines and traditions that span political and legal philosophy, critical theory (broadly construed) and Black radical thought.
After serving in the Royal Air Force, Robert attained a degree in Communication Media at Manchester Metropolitan University and then entered work in broadcast media as a Project Manager. A calling to policing came and Robert left the media industry to enter policing, serving initially as Police Staff in the control room environment, as well as a Special Constable, before becoming a regular Officer. Serving with both North Yorkshire Police and British Transport Police (BTP), Robert has experience in response policing, neighbourhood policing, and was one of the initial pro-active officers on the BTP County Lines task force commissioned by the Home Secretary in 2019 dealing with modern day slavery and the safeguarding of vulnerable persons. Qualified in the Certificate of Knowledge in Policing, Diploma in Policing, and passing the NPPF 2 Sergeants exam, Robert left BTP as a Sergeant to join ULaw on the policing degrees as a Lecturer.
Kevin was a police officer for over twenty years. After leaving the police he was Managing Director of a UK international business in Egypt and then China. He has an LLB in Law and postgraduate qualifications in Philosophy and Theology. Prior to joining The University of Law, Kevin was teaching with the Open University and Jiao Tong University in Shanghai.
James was awarded a PHD in Sociology from the University of Leeds in 2022. He also holds a BA in Sociology from the University of Leeds (first class honours) and a MA Social Research from Goldsmiths, University of London (distinction). He has been a past convenor of the British Sociological Association Postgraduate Forum, as well as former joint editor in chief for the graduate Journal of Social Science. James’s teaching experience and research interests cover sociology, criminology and social policy.
Angela completed her BA undergraduate degree in History and Criminology at the University of Essex in 2014, graduating with First Class Honours. This was followed by a MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice at Oxford University in 2015. She is currently completing a PhD with the Open University which explores the experiences of Black women in UK prisons through an intersectional lens. Angela has worked within the criminal justice sector in a Secure Training Centre, the National Probation Service, and Youth Justice.
Keith has a BA (Hons) in Archaeology from Lancaster but for 32 years was a police officer in West Yorkshire Police, retiring as a Chief Superintendent in 2019. He gained extensive experience in police leadership and management and senior governmental experience at both the Home Office and at Leeds City Council where he lead a large inter agency team. He has considerable professional expertise in public safety and public order operations and in firearms command. He acquired significant experience in procurement, infrastructure, finance, project management and police disciplinary functions. For his last four years service, Keith was seconded to the Home Office as the Senior Police Adviser to Home Office Science, working alongside the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Justice, DSTL and other public and private providers of science and technology. His key responsibility was to both develop and bring a strategic perspective on police requirements to these organisations and represent police service interests across a range of boards and groups, helping to steer both policy and the effective use of resources.
Mark is a former Commander in the Metropolitan Police Service who had several different roles throughout his thirty-year policing career. These included overall responsibility for the London Transport Command, Central Communications Complex and Counter Terrorism within Territorial Policing. He was responsible for the introduction of the Safer Neighbourhoods policing programme across London and the introduction of Police Community Support Officers, modernising the approach to policing across London and nationally. After retiring from the police service, he was appointed as the Head of the National Transport Coordination Centre for the Olympic Games and has since worked both nationally and internationally as a subject matter expert on law enforcement and transportation, supporting major consultancy houses in the delivery of sophisticated solutions based around law enforcement, transportation, and public safety.
Steve studied at Christ Church University in Canterbury completing two undergraduate degrees, one of which was in Policing, and a post graduate qualification in teaching. Steve has gone on to complete 30 years in policing undertaking senior roles in Kent, the National Crime Agency and, until October of last year, as Commissioner of Police (Chief Constable) leading the national police service of Bermuda, a UK overseas territory. He has worked as a police officer in many parts of the world and has published research into the address of mass casualty disasters. His roles have involved the management of serious and organised crime, gangs and gun crime, counter corruption, money laundering through to community policing an area he remains passionate about. Steve is also qualified as an executive leadership coach. He joined the ULaw online team upon his departure from Bermuda and is a regular contributor to the Criminology and Policing faculty.
Ally has an LLB degree in Law from Nottingham University . He joined the police in 1992 and for thirty years worked almost exclusively within the Criminal investigation Department , retiring as a Detective Chief inspector in Northamptonshire police . Within this role Ally qualified as a Senior Investigating Officer and lead on over 20 murder investigations , as well as a high profile investigation into sexual offending within a religious institution and several drugs and firearms operations targeting organised crime groups within the East Midlands.
Alex is a Lecturer in Criminology and Sociology, and specialises in criminal justice, identity and desistance theory, alongside psychoanalytic theory and continental philosophy. His doctoral thesis is an exploration into how/why fundamental changes in personality might occur in offenders, following experiences of religious and spiritual conversions to Christianity. Some of the initial findings have been published in the closing chapter to an international book, published in December 2022 through Routledge, called Crime, Criminal Justice and Religion: A Critical Appraisal. He has been teaching in higher education since 2014, and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).
Alex is also the managing director of a Community Interest Company called UNTAP Project (Untapping New talent and Potential), which is built around co-production and song writing with young people who are in alternative provisions in schools and are identified as being ‘at risk’ of gang related criminal involvement. Untap are currently partnered and funded through the West Yorkshire Violence Reduction Unit and Kirklees Council, West Yorkshire.
Dene is a Senior Lecturer in the BSc Professional Policing Degree at the University of Law (ULaw) in London Bloomsbury and has FHEA accreditation. Dene has been designing modules and assessments for the Professional Policing Degree at ULaw for over 3 years and has been teaching in all year groups since 2021. Dene is the Academic Coach for policing students in year 1 and year 2.
Dene has over 30 years of policing experience and she has an honour’s degree in Adult and Community Learning from Queensland University of Technology. Dene has a wide range of first-hand skills in operational policing and moreover a broad cross-section of knowledge, experience and understanding in many other policing areas.