Liam Ralph

Assistant Professor

Department: Social Sciences

I am an Assistant Professor in Criminology and teach Undergraduate students on Criminology and Policing degrees, as well as student officers on the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship (PCDA) and the Degree Holder Entry Programme (DHEP). I joined Northumbria University as a Research Fellow on an ESRC-funded Visible Policing project in 2019. I previously worked in Justice Analytical Services (JAS) at The Scottish Government (2017-2018). Here, I undertook a project titled ‘Public in the police and satisfaction during encounters’ and created a Public Confidence steering group in Scotland. My doctoral thesis examined the dynamics of police legitimacy and social media in Scotland (2015-2020).

I have researched and published solo and co-authored articles on police legitimacy, technology and social media in policing, democratic policing, visible policing, policing sports, and homicide investigations. Recently, I published an Introduction to Policing textbook (4^th Edition) with colleagues Professor Mike Rowe and Dr Ali Malik.

Main research interests: policing, police legitimacy, public confidence, technology, and social media

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Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Introduction to Policing, Rowe, M., Ralph, L., Malik, A. 14 Nov 2023
Police use of Twitter during a sporting mega-event, Aitken, A., Ralph, L., Robinson, P. 2023, In: Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice
Navigating the digital beat: a review of social media as a public engagement tool in policing, Ralph, L., Elliott, I., Murphy, J., Glennon, R. 29 Nov 2024, In: International Journal of Emergency Services
The dynamic nature of police legitimacy on social media, Ralph, L. 9 Aug 2022, In: Policing and Society
Maintaining police-citizen relations on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ralph, L., Jones, M., Rowe, M., Milllie, A. 3 Jul 2022

Professional Activity

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Other: Written expert statement on new technologies and the application of law to the House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee. 2021
Other: Written expert statement on possible issues arising from emerging technological developments in policing to the Independent Advisory Group on Emerging Technologies in Policing to Scottish Government 2021