Nationally recognised
Enhancing academic-policing partnerships through evidence, engagement and educational enrichment
The University of Portsmouth’s Policing Academic Centre of Excellence (UoP P-ACE) provides a central gateway between policing and academia to co-produce the knowledge which shapes policing practice. In keeping with the University’s long history of working with police forces, the Centre has a clear focus on building the necessary future skills for both police practitioners and researchers.
The UoP P-ACE has three strategic aims:
- To co-create knowledge to address the strategic needs of policing, bringing together UoP academic experts from diverse fields with police practitioners.
- To cultivate a community of practitioners, academics and other stakeholders actively engaged in problem solving and ensuring future readiness.
- To create and nurture a generation of police practitioners and academics equipped to drive evidence-informed practice.
Areas of Research Interest covered
The Centre’s activity will be focused on six areas of research interest: crime prevention, analytics, building and maintaining public trust, personal safety, surveillance and sensing, and identification and tracking.
Policing Areas of Research Interest
List of specialisms
Diversity and representation; Trust, rapport and confidence; Cybercrime; Cybersecurity; Social engineering (e.g. phishing); Internet of Things crime prevention; Economic crime (including fraud, corruption, money laundering, intellectual property crime and economic espionage); Missing persons; Extremism and radicalisation; Crime prevention; Vulnerabilities, safeguarding and victim support/rights; Violence against women and girls and online gender-based violence; Wildlife crime; Policing cultures; Police workforce; Biometrics; Facial recognition and eyewitness identification; Forensic accounting; Forensic science (including digital, archaeological, anthropological, entomological); Crime scene investigations; Human/system interactions; Forensic and Investigative interviewing; Intelligence gathering; Information elicitation; 3D imaging; Remote sensing; Artificial Intelligence (AI); Machine learning (ML); Ethics in AI/ML; Crime prediction tools.
Governance
The UoP P-ACE is governed by two Directors and a Centre Manager who will provide the intellectual leadership, strategic direction and financial oversight of the UoP P-ACE. Together with our project partners, we will monitor the impact, value and effectiveness of the workstreams (see below) overseen by an appointed Steering Group of academic experts and policing representatives.
Our members
Directors
Professor Sarah Charman
Professor Paul Smith
Dr Helen Earwaker
Ms Soraya Harding
Dr Jemma Tyson
Dr Aram Ghaemmaghami
Dr Amy Meenaghan
Media ready expert
Professor Mark Button
Dr Alejandra De La Fuente
Professor Becky Milne
Media ready expert
Dr Branislav Hock
Media ready expert
Dr Vasileios Karagiannopoulos
Media ready expert
Professor Lisa Sugiura
Mr Geoff Newiss
Related research groups
The latest news from our centre
Policing Research Group
We're working in collaboration with local, national and international police organisations to research the social, economic and political context in which policing operates.
Portsmouth announced as one of nine Policing Academic Centres of Excellence (P-ACEs)
The University of Portsmouth to become one of only nine centres of excellence for policing in the UK, following £4.5 million in funding from UKRI and the NPCC.
Related courses
Professional Policing BSc (Hons)
Qualify as a police officer on this degree. Take advantage of our close ties to local constabularies and graduate ready to apply for work in the police service.
Start date: September 2026 September 2027
Policing and Investigation (Distance Learning) BSc (Hons)
Start or level up your career on this Policing and Investigation degree course. Study part-time around other commitments, anywhere that suits you.
Start date: September 2026 September 2027
Contact us
For more information about work of the UoP P-ACE, please contact us at:
