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Dr Bethan Loftus

Reader in Criminology and Crimin

b.loftus@bangor.ac.uk

–

Dr Bethan Loftus

View Dr Bethan Loftus’s profile on the Bangor Research Portal

Overview

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. 

Additional Contact Information

Reader in Criminology and Criminal Justice

Office: 114.2 Mezzanine Floor, Main Arts Building

Phone: 01248 382183

Email: b.loftus@bangor.ac.uk

Postgraduate Project Opportunities

In the areas of policing and security

Publications

2024

  • PublishedBeing Watched: The Aftermath of Covert Policing
    Loftus, B., Feilzer, M. & Goold, B., Sept 2024, In: Howard Journal of Criminal Justice. 63, 3, p. 245-271 35 p.
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
  • PublishedScrutiny of Police Institutions and the Spectre of Culture
    Feilzer, M. & Loftus, B., 1 Aug 2024, In: Political Quarterly .
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2023

  • PublishedAn Evaluation of the Agencies Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Tasking (ADAPT) Programme in North Wales
    Loftus, B. & Hodgkinson, C., 1 Jun 2023, 38 p.
    Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report
  • PublishedEthnography and the Evocative World of Policing
    Bacon , M. (Editor), Loftus, B. (Editor) & Rowe, M. (Editor), 3 Dec 2023, London: Routledge. 234 p.
    Research output: Book/Report › Book
  • PublishedThe Moral and Emotional World of Police Informants
    Loftus, B., Bacon , M. & Skinns, L., Sept 2023, In: The Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles. 96, 3, p. 355–373
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2022

  • PublishedPolice Culture: Origins, Features and Reform
    Loftus, B., 2022, 81 p.
    Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report › peer-review
  • PublishedReflections on the Parallel Practices of Police Ethnographers and Covert Police
    Loftus, B., Goold, B. & Mac Giollabhui, S., 30 Dec 2022, Routledge International Handbook of Police Ethnography . Fleming , J. & Charman, S. (eds.). 1 ed. Routledge
    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

2020

  • PublishedEthnography and the Evocative World of Policing (Part I)
    Bacon , M., Loftus, B. & Rowe, M., 31 Jan 2020, In: Policing and Society: An International Journal of Research and Policy. 30, 1, p. 1-10
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
  • PublishedEthnography and the Evocative World of Policing: Part II
    Bacon , M., Loftus, B. & Rowe, M., Feb 2020, In: Policing and Society: An International Journal of Research and Policy. 30, p. 117-119
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial › peer-review

2019

  • PublishedNormalizing covert surveillance: The Subterranean World of Policing
    Loftus, B., Dec 2019, In: British Journal of Sociology. 70, 5, p. 2070-2091
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2018

  • PublishedPrivate security as a moral drama: A tale of two scandals
    Löfstrand, C. H., Loftus, B. & Loader, I., 2018, In: Policing and Society: An International Journal of Research and Policy. 28, 8, p. 968-984
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2016

  • PublishedFrom a Visible Spectacle to an Invisible Presence: The Working Culture of Covert Policing
    Loftus, B., Goold, B. & Mac Giollabhui, S., Jul 2016, In: British Journal of Criminology. 56, 4, p. 629-645
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
  • PublishedRevisiting the classics: S. Holdaway (1983) Inside the British police: a force at work
    Loftus, B., 22 Jul 2016, In: Policing and Society: An International Journal of Research and Policy. 26, 6, p. 713-720 7 p., 6.
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review › peer-review
  • PublishedWatching the watchers: Conducting ethnographic research on covert police investigation in the United Kingdom
    Mac Giollabhui, S., Goold, B. & Loftus, B., Dec 2016, In: Qualitative Research. 16, 6, p. 630-645
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2015

  • PublishedBorder regimes and the sociology of policing
    Loftus, B., 2015, In: Policing and Society: An International Journal of Research and Policy. 25, 1, p. 115-125
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
  • PublishedDoing ‘dirty work’: Stigma and esteem in the private security industry
    Löfstrand, C. H., Loftus, B. & Loader, I., 9 Nov 2015, In: European Journal of Criminology. p. 1-18
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
  • PublishedPolicing assemblages and the vulnerable border
    Loftus, B., 24 Nov 2015, In: European Journal of Policing Studies. 3, 2, p. 238-254
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2013

  • PublishedPolicing and the Surveillance of the Marginal: Everyday contexts of social control
    O'Neill, M. & Loftus, B., Nov 2013, In: Theoretical Criminology. 17, 4, p. 437-454
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2012

  • PublishedCovert Surveillance and the Invisibilities of Policing
    Loftus, B. & Goold, B., Jul 2012, In: Criminology and Criminal Justice. 12, 3, p. 275-289
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2010

  • PublishedPolice Culture in a Changing World
    Loftus, B., Feb 2010, Oxford : Oxford University Press. (Clarendon Studies in Criminology )
    Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review
  • PublishedPolice Occupational Culture: Classic Themes, Altered Times
    Loftus, B., 2010, In: Policing and Society: An International Journal of Research and Policy. 20, 1, p. 1-20
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2008

  • PublishedDominant Culture Interrupted: Recognition, Resentment and the Politics of Change in an English Police Force
    Loftus, B., Nov 2008, In: British Journal of Criminology. 48, 6, p. 778-797
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2007

  • PublishedPolicing the ‘Irrelevant’: Class, Diversity and Contemporary Police Culture
    Loftus, B., 2007, Police Culture: New Debates and Directions. O'Neill, M., Marks, M. & Singh, A.-M. (eds.). Oxford : Elsevier Press, p. 181-204 (Sociology of Crime Law and Deviance; vol. 8).
    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

Activities

2022

  • 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)

2020

  • Policing and Society: An International Journal of Research and Policy (Journal)

    Ethnography and the Evocative World of Policing

    Jan 2020 →

    Activity: Editorial activity (Guest editor)

2019

  • British Journal of Criminology (Journal)

    2019 →

    Activity: Editorial activity (Editorial board member)
  • Ethics of Police Stings

    2019 →

    Activity: Invited talk (Speaker)
  • Theoretical Criminology (Journal)

    Reviews Editor (since 2013)

    2019 →

    Activity: Publication peer-review (Editor)

2018

  • Live podcast for College of Policing

    I took part in a series of three podcast interviews for the College of Policing, where I was discussing leadership and police culture.

    Underpinning research: Based on original ethnograhpic fieldwork which has been published as a book and numerous articles.

    Beneficiaries: The police.

    General notes: Informing about the potentials and pitfalls of the occupational culture within the police.

    10 Sep 2018

    Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Media article or participation (Contributor)
  • Normalising Covert Surveillance: The Subterranean World of Policing

    Invited speaker, All Souls Seminar Series, University of Oxford

    2018 →

    Activity: Invited talk (Speaker)
  • Watching the Watchers: Reflections on an Ethnography with Covert Police

    Keynote: University of Liverpool

    2018 →

    Activity: Invited talk (Speaker)

Projects

  • Evaluation of the ADAPT programme in North Wales Police

    01/01/2023 – 17/08/2023 (Finished)

  • KESS II MRes with North Wales Police- BUK2228

    01/03/2022 – 31/03/2024 (Finished)

  • KESS II MRes with North Wales Police- BUK2197

    01/10/2019 – 31/03/2024 (Finished)

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