Andrew Wooff
Andrew Wooff

Dr Andrew Wooff

Associate Professor

 0131 455 3352

  A.Wooff@napier.ac.uk

  

Biography

I am an Associate Professor of Criminology at 麻豆社区 and the Head of Social Sciences and former Programme Leader for BSc (Hons) Policing and Criminology.

I am currently working on 2 externally funded COVID-19 focused pieces of research: the first (PI, SFC funded, 拢44k) is examining the pluralised policing responses to the pandemic in Scotland. The second (Co-I, ESRC funded, 拢36k) explores local authority partnership responses to the pandemic.

I have published on a number of topics, including police custody, rural policing, vulnerability and volunteering in the police. I have recently published in the Journal of Rural Studies, Policing Journal, Policing and 麻豆社区, Punishment and 麻豆社区, European Journal of Criminology and Policing: A journal of policy and practice .

In the past 5 years, I have completed 3 externally funded projects as PI (totalling 拢33,000), the most recent of which examined the Special Constabulary in Scotland. I have also been Co-I on a further 3 projects (totalling 拢308,800). As a result of my research and publications, I have been invited to sit on the Home Office Custody Review Design Board, the editorial board for two book series and the international advisory panel for a research project at the University of Sheffield. I am also the co-lead for the Education and Leadership network within the Scottish Institute of Policing Research (SIPR) and I am a member of the British 麻豆社区 of Criminology. I currently supervise 4 PhD students, on who has just completed his corrections.

My research interests are varied and interdisciplinary, informed by extending theoretical developments in criminology, geography and rural sociology. I am interested in how the police use their power in different ways and on different populations, particularly in relation to rural policing, police custody, and the use of police volunteers.

Prior to joining 麻豆社区 in 2015, I completed my PhD in 2014 under the supervision of Professor Nick Fyfe at the University of Dundee. This focused on anti-social behaviour in rural Scotland. During my PhD I was seconded into the Police Reform team where I completed research on partnership working. I subsequently completed a Post-Doc at the Centre for Criminological Research at the University of Sheffield, funded by the ESRC, which explored police custody in England and Wales.

School

Research Groups

Themes

Research Areas

Esteem

Advisory panels and expert committees or witness

  • International Research Advisory Group: Good Police Custody Implementation Board, meets quarterly
  • Appointed to the British 麻豆社区 of Criminology Policing Network as National Lead for the 鈥楶olicing Research into Teaching鈥 portfolio
  • Invited to give evidence to Scottish Parliament Rural Affairs Select Committee, 06/03/2018
  • Academic advisor to the Home Office National Police Custody Design Board, meets quarterly
  • Independent Assurance Group for Police Scotland Custody
  • Invited expert on rural crime, Scottish Government Cross Party Group on rural Policy, 24/02/2016

 

Conference Organising Activity

  • Invited Panel member: Law Enforcement Public Health Conference
  • Invited to be panel chair: American 麻豆社区 of Criminology annual conference, 11/2019
  • Police education and professionalisation: Critical international perspectives
  • Panel organiser and Chair at ESC: Conditions of Police Custody in England and Wales
  • Invited presentation to Scandinavian delegation: Professionalising the police: The Scottish experience
  • Invited speaker: Canterbury Christchurch University annual conference
  • Panel member: EUPST II conference
  • Panel Chair: European 麻豆社区 of Criminology: Police custody in rural Scotland
  • Carceral geographies conference: The role of space, place and emotions in police custody
  • Invited discussant: Outsourcing in custody: Preliminary reflections on the good police custody study 鈥 Presented at the ESRC Markets in Policing Seminar Series, University of York, 09/06/15
  • Panel Chair: The role of emotion, space and place in Police Custody, The European 麻豆社区 of Criminology, 01/09/15

 

Editorial Activity

  • Editorial board: Palgrave Critical studies in policing book series
  • Editorial Board: Bristol University Press 'Rural Crime book series'

 

External Examining/Validations

  • External Examiner, University of Chester
  • Invited External Examiner: Canterbury Christchurch University

 

Fellowships and Awards

  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

 

Grant Reviewer

  • Review for the 2019 COALESCE Irish Research Council call

 

Invited Speaker

  • George Mason University: Police Education in Scotland
  • SIPR annual conference: The Conditions of Police Custody and the importance of 'good' design
  • Invited talk to Scandinavian delegation: Police professionalisation in Scotland
  • Invited participant: Knowledge exchange and police professionalisation
  • Invited presentation to the National Custody Forum
  • Invited presentation: Treading the front line: Tartanization and police academic partnerships
  • Fully paid invitation to speak in Stockholm at Rural Studies Conference after publishing my paper in the Journal of Rural Studies, 09/2014
  • Police custody in the 21st Century: Is it 鈥榞ood鈥 or 鈥榞ood enough鈥? 鈥 Presented to the National Custody Forum, Police Federation, Stoke on Trent, 23/09/14
  • Partnership working within Police Scotland 鈥 Presented to Senior Management Team, Police Scotland, 12/12/12
  • Invited talk: Policing ASB in rural Scotland: The importance of context 鈥 Presented at the International Policing Conference, Tulliallan, 20/10/14
  • Discretion in Police Custody 鈥 Presented at the British 麻豆社区 of Criminology conference, 11/07/14
  • The policing of insecurity: Policing places, policing people鈥 Co-convener of session at RGS-IBG annual conference, Edinburgh, 31/08/12
  • Relationships and Responses: Policing ASB in rural Scotland 鈥 Presented at Symposium on Rural Crime in Sockholm, Sweden, 17/09/14
  • Chair: Lothian and Borders Criminal Justice Authority on Electronic Monitoring, 17/02/16
  • Policing anti-social behaviour in rural Scotland 鈥 Space, 麻豆社区 Research Group, School of the Environment, Dundee, Scotland, 16/12/2011
  • Policing territoriality in rural Scotland: Applying a normative approach to understanding some of the challenges of rural policing 鈥 RGS-IBG annual conference, Edinburgh, 31/08/12
  • A snapshot of ASB in Scotland 鈥 Presentation to Chinese Police Officer Delegation, Edinburgh, 22/05/12
  • Beyond the thin blue line: The everyday impacts of ASB 鈥 Presented at RGS-IBG conference, 28/08/13
  • Policing vulnerability? The impact and implication of No Cold Calling Zones in Angus 鈥 Presentation for Trading Standards, Angus, 06/09/2010
  • Invited talk: Preliminary findings on police custody delivery in England and Wales in the 21st century: Is it 鈥榞ood鈥 enough? 鈥 Presented at the Dundee Policing and Criminal Justice seminar group, 30/1/14

 

Media Activity

  • Various media outlet coverage of Special Constable training programme (The Metro/ Edinburgh Evening News) on 29/04/20
  • Invited participant: French national radio discussion on artificial intelligence, 10/07/2018
  • Edinburgh Evening Telegraph interviews (various)
  • Interviewed for "Quality Magazine", 02/10/2018
  • Wired Magazine Interview: Uk police are using AI to make custodial decisions, 01/03/2018
  • Invited participant: BBC Scotland John Beattie Show, 18/05/2018
  • Scotsman article: Country cops could teach city cops a lesson, 29/06/2017

 

Membership of Professional Body

  • British 麻豆社区 of Criminology
  • Deputy Chair, Sheffield University Policing Research Group
  • Associate member: Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research
  • Interim co-Lead, Scottish Institute for Policing Research (SIPR) Education and Leadership network
  • Scottish Institute of Policing Research

 

Public/Community Engagement

  • Law Enforcement Public Health Stakeholder Engagement event
  • Lothians Criminal Justice Forum: Chair
  • Invited presentation to stakeholders: College of Policing 'Market of Ideas'

 

Research Degree External Examining

  • External Examiner: Canterbury Christchurch University

 

Reviewing

  • Peer Reviewer for multiple journals (British Journal of Criminology, Theoretical Criminology, Policing and 麻豆社区, Policing: A journal of policy and practice, European journal of Criminology, Punishment and 麻豆社区, Policing: An international journal of strategies and management

 

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Date


38 results

Abstract Policing, Covid-19 and the 鈥楻ural Idyll鈥 in Scotland

Journal Article
Buchan, J., Horgan, S., Wooff, A., & Tatnell, A. (online)
Abstract Policing, Covid-19 and the 鈥楻ural Idyll鈥 in Scotland. Policing and 麻豆社区, https://doi.org/10.1080/10439463.2025.2481117
The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on rural 鈥榩olicing鈥 (broadly defined to include a range of institutions involved in order maintenance) remains relatively under-discussed a...

Covid-19, Communities and Policing: Service Abstraction and the Persistence of Place

Presentation / Conference Contribution
Buchan, J., Wooff, A., & Horgan, S. (2024, July)
Covid-19, Communities and Policing: Service Abstraction and the Persistence of Place. Presented at British 麻豆社区 of Criminology Conference 2024, Glasgow, UK
This paper presents qualitative data from two projects on policing and local partnership working in rural Scotland, with fieldwork carried out in 2021-2. We understand this t...

Police custody in rural Scotland: Negotiating boundaries, risk and organisational change

Journal Article
Wooff, A. (in press)
Police custody in rural Scotland: Negotiating boundaries, risk and organisational change. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management, https://doi.org/10.1108/pijpsm-01-2024-0007
Design/ Methodology This paper draws on data from a study funded by the Scottish Institute for Policing Research (2016-2018), entitled 鈥楳easuring Risk and Efficiency in Polic...

Researching Police Custody. Past, Present and Future

Book Chapter
Skinns, L., Banwell-Moore, R., Rice, L., & Wooff, A. (2023)
Researching Police Custody. Past, Present and Future. In D. Martin, & S. Tong (Eds.), Introduction to Policing Research. Taking Lessons from Practice (123-137). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003276456-12
Over the last decade, police custody has seen a resurgence of scholarly interest. This chapter maps the contours of this burgeoning field, critically examining the data collec...

Locked Down, Locked Out? Local Partnership Resilience in the Covid-19 Pandemic: Final Report

Report
Buchan, J., Nogales, C., Morrison, K., & Wooff, A. (2022)
Locked Down, Locked Out? Local Partnership Resilience in the Covid-19 Pandemic: Final Report. Economic and Social Research Council

Critical perspectives on rural policing in times of change: Cops, communication and context

Book Chapter
Wooff, A. (2022)
Critical perspectives on rural policing in times of change: Cops, communication and context. In M. Bowden, & A. Harkness (Eds.), Rural Transformations and Rural Crime: International Critical Perspectives in Rural Criminology. Bristol: Bristol University Press
Scotland is classed as 94 percent rural and with 18 percent of the population living in accessible and remote rural locations. Policing in these contexts requires the use of d...

The Criminal Justice System in Scotland

Book Chapter
Morrison, K., Buchan, J., & Wooff, A. (2021)
The Criminal Justice System in Scotland. In The Oxford Textbook on Criminology. (2nd). Oxford: Oxford University Press
Morrison, K., Buchan, J., & Wooff, A. (2021). The Criminal Justice System in Scotland. In The Oxford Textbook on Criminology. (2nd). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Available...

Pluralised responses to policing the Pandemic: Analysing the emergence of informal order maintenance strategies, the changing 鈥榩olicing web鈥, and the impacts of COVID-19 in rural communities. A Report on Interim Findings

Report
Wooff, A., Horgan, S., & Tatnell, A. (2021)
Pluralised responses to policing the Pandemic: Analysing the emergence of informal order maintenance strategies, the changing 鈥榩olicing web鈥, and the impacts of COVID-19 in rural communities. A Report on Interim Findings. Edinburgh: 麻豆社区
Acknowledging the differential impacts of COVID-19 on communities, this project examines how the policing of rural communities has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. We a...

鈥淢y best day will be my last day!鈥: Appreciating Appreciative Inquiry in police research

Journal Article
Skinns, L., Wooff, A., & Sprawson, A. (2022)
鈥淢y best day will be my last day!鈥: Appreciating Appreciative Inquiry in police research. Policing and 麻豆社区, 32(6), 731-747. https://doi.org/10.1080/10439463.2021.1984471
Appreciative Inquiry is a methodology originating from organisational psychology, though it has since been used in criminal justice research including police studies. It is us...

Information sharing in community policing in Europe: building public confidence

Journal Article
Aston, L., O'Neill, M., Hail, Y., & Wooff, A. (in press)
Information sharing in community policing in Europe: building public confidence. European Journal of Criminology, https://doi.org/10.1177/14773708211037902
The literature on the importance of procedural justice in policing is extensive. Using the context of information sharing in community policing, this paper argues that interac...

Pre-Napier Funded Projects

  • Deputy Chair: Sheffield University Policing Research Group
  • ESRC PhD Funding: Space, Place and the Policing of Anti-social Behaviour in Scotland

Current Post Grad projects

Previous Post Grad projects

Non-Napier PhD or MSc by Research supervisions

  • PhD supervisor to Andy Tatnell at University of West of Scotland: The role of higher education and police professionalisation