Voices of Justice: transforming communication in policing and criminal justice settings

British Academy/Wellcome Trust Conferences bring together scholars and specialists from around the world to explore themes related to health and wellbeing.

Voices of Justice: Transforming Communication in Policing and Criminal Justice Settings is a two-day hybrid conference bringing together researchers and practitioners to explore how communication can improve governance, build public trust, and amplify marginalised voices. Spanning the full journey from initial contact, through everyday policing, investigations, prosecutions, judgement and post-conviction, the event will showcase cutting-edge research and practical innovations from across the globe. With a strong focus on interdisciplinary dialogue and real-world impact, the conference aims to foster collaboration, inform policy, and support justice reform. Join us to help shape the future of forensic communication and contribute to a more transparent, inclusive, and effective policing and criminal justice system.

Conference convenors

• Dr Alexandra Kent, Keele University
• Dr Sarah Atkins, Aston University
• Dr Carrie Childs, University of Derby
• Dr Magnus Hamann, Loughborough University
• Dr Laura Jenkins, Loughborough University
• Dr Emma Richardson, Loughborough University

Speakers

• Keynote speaker, Professor Elizabeth Stokoe, London School of Economics.

Convenor biographies

Dr Alexandra Kent is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Keele University whose research focuses on communication in policing. Her work examines how police call handlers manage emergency (999) and non‑emergency (101) calls, including the interactional practices through which urgency, risk and entitlement to assistance are assessed. Her research also explores communication in police interviews and digital contact settings. Alongside her academic work, she collaborates with policing practitioners to develop and deliver evidence‑based training and guidance to improve frontline communication and decision‑making.

Dr Sarah Atkins is Senior Lecturer at the Aston Institute for Forensic Linguistics, Aston University. Her research applies linguistics to professional and forensic contexts, currently focusing on how spoken information in police emergency calls is transformed into the categories and written records that shape police responses at this critical first point of contact. She contributes to several collaborative projects, including the Police STAR-funded 'TACT - Talk to Action' project with Alexandra Kent, examining police communication from 999 calls through to CAD logs; 'Crimes in Action', investigating 999 calls reporting kidnap and extortion and the Forensic Linguistic Databank (FoLD). Sarah’s work places strong emphasis on translating research into practice and she has developed several successful training interventions for professional partners.

Dr Carrie Childs is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Derby whose work focuses on children and young people in justice and justice-adjacent settings. Her work has explored interaction in police interviews with children reporting alleged sexual offences, explicating how police officers follow and depart from advice outlined in best practice guidelines. Beyond this, her research spans early intervention and support for children and young people, as well as practitioner experiences within criminal justice-adjacent systems. Collectively, her work is concerned with voice, vulnerability, and interaction in justice contexts, and with improving how systems respond to those who are most marginalised.

Dr Laura Jenkins is a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy at Loughborough University where she applies conversation analysis and discursive psychology to a range of everyday and institutional encounters. She was awarded the prestigious Vice‑Chancellor Independent Research Fellowship to drive innovative research into youth justice, building on a portfolio of work on medical encounters and conversations with children. Her analytic foci include autonomy, engagement, vulnerability, and broaching sensitive matters. She delivers high-impact evidence-based communication training with practitioners and clinicians, with workshops for organisations including the Crown Prosecution Service, the Ministry of Justice, the College of Policing, and the Youth Justice Board.

Dr Emma Richardson is Senior Lecturer in the School of Social Science and Humanities, Loughborough University. Her work focuses on the contribution conversation analysis can make to understanding the issues with access to criminal justice for vulnerable (as defined by law) victim-survivors of domestic and sexual violence. Emma works with authentic (non)emergency calls and investigative police interview data to understand how reports of domestic and sexual violence are made, receipted and progressed through the criminal justice system.

Dr Magnus Hamann is a Linguist working at Oxford University. His research concerns the space where society interacts with and is constructed through language. Magnus is especially interested the conversational trajectories that lead to conflicts between professionals and service users. Magnus work includes examinations of how police officers arrest citizens as well as the use of (lethal) force as a police practice. As part of his academic work, Magnus develops his research in collaboration with stakeholders with the aim of improving communication in situations of potential conflict.

Further information

Tickets are now available.

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