Eleri Pound

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First Flexible Funding Awards

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Following the first round of applications to the TYP-ACE flexible fund call, we are pleased to announce the award of two Collaborative Research Awards.

Both projects are working in partnership with Yorkshire-based police forces, focusing on the priority areas of crime prevention and building public trust (ARIs). We look forward to seeing the positive outcomes and impact of these projects over the coming months

Funded Projects

The use of GenAI by police call handlers to identify self-harm and suicidal ideation in the context of domestic abuse: An exploratory study

Dr Sam Lewis – School of Law, University of Leeds

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has long been a feature of policing. For example, the use of Machine Learning to support predictive analytics (e.g., identifying crime ‘hot spots’), administrative tasks (e.g., automated call transcription), and complex data analysis is well established. The advent of generative AI (GenAI), however, is said to have brought policing to ‘the brink of a once-in-a-generation reform’ (NPCC 2026). Plans to embed AI across policing include a £115m national centre for AI in Policing (Policing.AI), due to launch in 2026, that will ‘centralise and streamline the development, evaluation and rollout of AI tools’ (NPCC 2026).

Forces at the forefront of these developments are already exploring the strategic use of AI in priority areas. At a time when domestic abuse victim suicides outnumber domestic abuse-related homicides (NPCC 2025), West Yorkshire Police is exploring the use of AI to support early identification of self-harm (SH) and suicidal ideation (SI) among victims of domestic abuse. This could enable faster referrals to life-saving services and reveal the prevalence of SH and SI among DA victims known to police – an ongoing knowledge gap. This collaborative research project will compare the identification of SH and SI amongst DA victims who come to West Yorkshire Police’s attention over a four-month period, by call handlers and an AI model.

Mapping the incidence and impact of digitally-enabled coercive control in York and North Yorkshire

Dr Susan Watson – School for Business and Society, University of York

This project investigates digitally enabled coercive control in York and North Yorkshire (YNY) by analysing qualitative data gathered from North Yorkshire Police, Victim Support, and other stakeholders. Despite the rising use of surveillance technologies (e.g. doorbell cameras, GPS tracking devices, and location-sharing tools) for digitally enabled coercive control, academic research utilising such evidence from both law enforcement and survivors remains limited. This project addresses this critical knowledge gap.

Working alongside regional partners and practitioners, the research pursues five strategic objectives:

  1. Scale: How many offences over a defined period include an element of digitally‑enabled coercive control?
  2. Nature: What commonalities exist across cases reported to police?
  3. Training and support: What knowledge gaps do police officers identify, what obstacles arise from these gaps, and what training or resources would improve investigative practice?
  4. Securing future dissemination of best practice: How can best practice from other forces be rapidly shared with frontline officer
  5. Improvements: How can support for victim‑survivors be strengthened? Insights from individuals with lived experience and organisations working in this area will inform recommendations for improved service provision.

By mapping the experiences of survivors and practitioners, this study aims to refine local responses, ensuring that policing policy and responses on the ground keep pace with the rapidly evolving technological landscape of domestic abuse.

If you are interested in applying for funding for a policing related project, see details of our next calls on our webpage – TYP-ACE Flexible fund

TYP-ACE Newsletter April 2026

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First TYP-ACE Newsletter

We recently distributed our first newsletter and you can download a copy from the link below:

TYP-ACE Newsletter April 2026

Contents include:

  • Welcome from our Directors
  • Meet the Team – Ngaire Waine
  • Grants, Funding and Awards
  • Funding opportunities
  • Events and Activities
  • If you have something to share with us?


Please let us know about events, publications, awards or activities you’d like us to include in our next newsletter [email protected]

If you would like to receive future newsletters, please sign up to our mailing list or sign up to our Expert network if you are based at the University of Leeds or York

Sign up to our Expert Network

Join TYP-ACE mailing list

Training empowers park staff to tackle harassment

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Hundreds of park staff and volunteers across the UK have been trained in how to spot, safely challenge, and prevent harassment or behaviour which could stop women feeling safe in public places.

The ‘Stand Up Against Harassment’ training, delivered by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust and tailored for parks staff by University of Leeds researchers, has seen more than 400 staff learn about the “5Ds” of bystander intervention, and the academics involved now want to see the programme rolled out to park workers across the country.

The School of Law’s Dr Anna Barker said: “We know that safer parks are not just about better lighting or design – they’re about people. This training gives staff and volunteers the confidence to act when they see or hear something that isn’t right. It empowers communities to look out for each other.”

A new report, Safer Parks: Fostering a Community of Active Bystanders for the UK’s Green Spaces, by Dr Barker and her colleague Dr Rebecca Brunk, includes evaluation of the training which shows:

94% of people who attended felt confident or empowered to act as bystanders
Confidence and skills to intervene significantly increased after training
Participants valued the opportunity to discuss and apply their learning through park-based scenarios based on real experiences of women and girls.
The report builds on researchers’ earlier findings showing that harassment in parks is a key factor affecting women’s and girls’ feelings of safety.

The report identifies active bystander training as a key gap among park workers and volunteers, calling for local councils and park managers to make it a compulsory part of staff induction and regular refresher training.

This training gives staff and volunteers the confidence to act when they see or hear something that isn’t right.
Dr Anna Barker, University of Leeds School of Law
The researchers found that almost two-thirds (65%) of park staff and volunteers had never received any sexual harassment training before taking part. Around a third (31%) had witnessed harassment, while 27% were unsure – suggesting that some may not recognise certain behaviours as harassment and reinforcing the need for clearer definitions and training.

Dr Barker said the need for such training is clear, with research by L’Oreal Paris showing that 80 percent of UK women have experienced public harassment, yet 75% report that no one stepped in.

The report was launched on Tuesday 25 November – the UN’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women – and at the beginning of the UNITE campaign’s 16 Days of Activism. To coincide with this campaign the Suzy Lamplugh Trust is offering free Stand Up Against Harassment bystander training to anyone working or volunteering in parks and green spaces.

Dr Anna Barker speaking at an event about Safer Parks in May 2023
Dr Anna Barker speaking at an event about Safer Parks in May 2023 – Mark Bickerdike/University of Leeds

The Suzy Lamplugh Trust’s Saskia Garner added: “Everyone deserves to feel safe enjoying our parks. Becoming an active bystander is something we can all do to help make that a reality.”

The training was offered to parks staff and volunteers in Cardiff, Wigan, Doncaster, London, Hartlepool and Rugby between October 2024 and September 2025, with a total of 245 people taking part across the six regions. It followed an earlier pilot scheme in West Yorkshire in 2024, when around 180 people took part.

The bespoke half-day sessions were designed using real world situations to give attendees a better idea of women’s experiences using parks.

Everyone deserves to feel safe enjoying our parks. Becoming an active bystander is something we can all do to help make that a reality.
Saskia Garner, Suzy Lamplugh Trust
The report also offers a series of policy and practice recommendations, from quick wins to longer-term strategic changes.

In a foreword to the report, Paul Todd, Green Flag Award accreditation manager, added: “We strongly encourage the parks and green space sector to empower staff with the ability and confidence to take action to make our parks safer for women and girls by completing the training and becoming active bystanders.”

Further information
For further information or to arrange interviews, please contact University of Leeds media officer Victoria Prest via email on [email protected]
The full report Safer Parks: Fostering a Community of Active Bystanders for the UK’s Green Spaces is available to download. DOI: 10.48785/100%2F368
Sign up to take free Stand Up Against Harassment bystander training with the Suzy Lamplugh Trust.
Visit the campaign webpage for further information and resources.
Main image: University of Leeds/ Mark Bickerdike

Researchers to lead prestigious Policing-Academic Centre of Excellence

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Professors Dan Birks and Adam Crawford to lead new Policing-Academic Centre of Excellence working to harness and maximise the impact of research excellence across the Universities of Leeds and York.

The Policing-Academic Centre of Excellence (P-ACE) will combine multi-disciplinary research and innovation from the Universities of Leeds and York to equip police and partners with the best research evidence available.

The P-ACE based at Leeds and York is one of nine Policing-Academic Centres of Excellence (P-ACEs) funded by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) in partnership with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). As well as Professor Birks and Professor Crawford, Dr Anna Barker (Leeds), Dr Toby Davies (Leeds), Dr Nadia Jessop (York) and Dr Ali Malik (Leeds) join the P-ACE as co-investigators.

Working closely with UK policing stakeholders, the P-ACEs will drive collaboration among academia and policing. They will ensure that policing is shaped by the most up to date scientific evidence, and that leading researchers nationwide are able to challenge and innovate in partnership with policing as they strive to improve public safety.

Professor Dan Birks said:

We are delighted with this investment by the National Police Chiefs’ Council, which builds on a strong foundation of interdisciplinary policing research at Leeds and York, including the ESRC Vulnerability and Policing Futures Research Centre and the N8 Policing Research Partnership.
“The Centre of Excellence will bring together complementary strengths from both universities, offering extensive expertise in four key areas of modern policing: crime prevention, public trust, data analytics, and climate change. It will also oversee a fund to support research and evidence synthesis aligned with these policing priorities.

“The P-ACE team looks forward to collaborating with colleagues across disciplines at both institutions along with policing partners to apply existing research knowledge, generate new insights, challenge assumptions, and support evidence-informed approaches to some of the most pressing challenges facing policing today.”

Professor Adam Crawford said: “Our new Policing-Academic Centre of Excellence will harness and magnify key research findings emerging from the Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre’s programme, including work on public trust and confidence in policing and our comprehensive data analytics programme. In addition, it will build upon internationally renowned existing centres of research excellence from across both institutions with relevance for the future of policing, including the Leeds Institute for Data Analytics and Priestley Centre for Climate Futures at Leeds and the York Environmental Sustainability Institute and Centre for Reviews and Dissemination at York.”

Through this work, we hope that this collaborative investment will enable policing to build resilience, prepare for future challenges and advance a better understanding of what works.
Professor Nick Plant, Pro-Vice-Chancellor: Research and Innovation at the University of Leeds, said:

This prestigious recognition underscores the significant impact of our collaborative research efforts, particularly with our esteemed colleagues at the University of York.
“We are confident that this initiative will not only advance our understanding of critical issues but also contribute to the development of strategies that promote a safer society for all.”

Areas of research interest
Each Policing Academic Centre of Excellence will be promoted across the policing sector as an accessible source of leading academic experts aligned with Policing’s Areas of Research Interest (ARIs) and evidence needs.

The P-ACEs will support policing to adopt new technologies, develop new tools and techniques, improve training and skills, and increase public safety.

The Policing-Academic Centre of Excellence based at the Universities of Leeds and York will provide expertise in the following key areas of research interest:

Crime Prevention – led by Dr Anna Barker: county lines; online child sexual exploitation; domestic abuse; modern slavery, mental health; violence against women and girls; knife crime; domestic violence; child-to-parent violence; youth crime, anti-social behaviour and early intervention.

Public Trust – led by Dr Nadia Jessop: public perceptions; police legitimacy; minimum policing standards; procedural justice; trust and confidence among minoritised and marginalised communities.

Data Analytics – led by Dr Toby Davies: spatio-temporal concentrations of crime; public-service data linkage; crime risk forecasting; AI-driven analyses of unstructured police data; police demand modelling; risk assessment tools.

Climate Change – led by Dr Ali Malik: responding to global warming; scenario planning; climate adaptation; climate mitigation and sustainable policing futures; partnership working and community resilience; net zero challenges.

Professor Paul Taylor, Police Chief Scientific Adviser, said:

Academia and policing have a long history of collaborative working on issues as diverse as forensic science, crime prevention, and analytical technologies. The P-ACEs will fortify this connection, providing a focal point for research and knowledge exchange.
“I’m particularly excited about what the P-ACEs can bring to early career scientists who are interested in tackling the complex challenge of keeping the UK public safe. The P-ACE community will, I hope, provide them more opportunities and greater support as we look to forge deep and lasting partnerships over the next decade.”

Further information
For media enquiries please contact University of Leeds press officer Morgan Buswell via email on [email protected] or by phone on 0113 3438059.

Further details of the Policing Academic Centres can be found here.

Read the NPCC announcement here.