Bethan is currently Reader in Criminology and Criminal Justice. She joined the School of Social Sciences in January 2016, having previously been the recipient of several grants and fellowships at the School of Law, University of Manchester (2011-2015), and the Centre for Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Oxford (2008-2011). Bethan holds a PhD in Criminology (Keele University), an MA in Comparative Criminology and Criminal Justice (Bangor University, received with distinction) and a BA in Criminology and Criminal Justice (Bangor University, first class).

Her research interests lie in the areas of policing and security, in particular: policing cultures, covert/undercover policing and surveillance; the operation and governance of private security; border enforcement; the use of Artificial Intelligence in law enforcement, and the policing of social divisions. She has conducted two major ethnographic field studies, both of which involved conducting prolonged observations of police officers as they went about their ordinary duties. She has been awarded research grants from the ESRC and Leverhulme Trust, and won a Simon Fellowship at the University of Manchester where she conducted research on the policing of international borders. Bethan is the author of Police Culture in a Changing World (Oxford University Press) and articles in major journals. 

Recently, Bethan was Co-Investigator on an ESRC grant entitled 'Borders, Boundary Mechanisms and Migration'. This project forms part of the WISERD Civil Society Research Centre, and examined the changing role of police and civil society organisations in the making and unmaking of political borders. It explored the humanitarian response to the migration and refugee crisis in the context of a rise in hostile, authoritarian government policy towards immigration and the increased presence of non-state, far-right political activity at borders.

Bethan is also currently involved in research projects that explore misogyny, interpersonal violence and non-fatal strangulation (NFS).

Bethan is an Editor for the British Journal of Criminology, and an Associate Editor for Theoretical Criminology, having previously been the book review editor for the latter (2012-2019).

Bethan's research interests are also reflected in her undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, including on the following modules: Policing, Security and the State; Serial Killers; and Comparative and International Criminal Justice. 

Reader in Criminology and Criminal Justice

Office: 114.2 Mezzanine Floor, Main Arts Building

Phone: 01248 382183

Email: b.loftus@bangor.ac.uk

In the areas of policing and security

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  • BU-IIA Funded project: Artificial Intelligence (AI), Ethics & Policing in North Wales: Establishing Citizens’ Perspectives

    In collaboration with North Wales Police (NWP), this project will identify and explore with police, civic and public stakeholders the benefits, challenges and ethical concerns raised through the police use of new computational technologies in policing, notably those involving claims to detect and predict criminality through risk-modelling and those based on Intelligent Facial Recognition.

    Funding awarded through the Bangor University Innovation and Impact Award (Research Wales Innovation Funding). Value = £44,239

    1 Apr 2022 – 31 Mar 2023

    Activity: Other (Contributor)

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