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Professor Adam Crawford FBA

Adam Crawford's research interests are policing and criminal justice studies; the sociology of control and regulation; criminological theory; comparative analysis of urban security; vulnerability and social justice; victims and restorative justice; and the co-production of knowledge.
A portrait picture of Professor Adam Crawford FBA
Fellow type
UK Fellow
Year elected
2026
Honours
FAcSS
Subjects
Law, Sociology
Sections
Law , Sociology, Demography and Social Statistics

Summary

Adam Crawford studied Law and Sociology at Warwick University, before completing an MPhil in Criminology at Cambridge and a PhD at the University of Leeds. He has spent much of his academic career researching and building an evidence base through mechanisms of co-production and knowledge translation to effect change in frontline policing, harm reduction and community safety.

Since 1992 he has worked in the School of Law at the University of Leeds where he was promoted to a Chair of Criminology & Criminal Justice in 2000. He was the Director of the Leeds Social Sciences Institute between 2015-21, supporting interdisciplinary research development and external partnerships and engagement.  He established and was the inaugural Director of the N8 Policing Research Partnership; a collaboration between eight universities and policing partners across the north of England.

In 2022, he also became a Professor at the University of York where he has been co-Director of the ESRC Vulnerability and Policing Futures Research Centre. He is a member of the Police Science Council, providing independent advice to the National Police Chiefs’ Council in the UK on science, analysis and research.

In 2026, he was awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award by the British Society of Criminology, for which he is also an Honorary Lifetime member. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.

Current post

York Law School, University of York Professor of Policing & Social Justice

School of Law, University of Leeds Professor of Criminology & Criminal Justice

Faculty of Social Sciences, University of York Deputy Associate Dean for Research (Impact & Engagement)

Universities of York and Leeds Co-Director of the ESRC Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre

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