Liam Ralph

Assistant Professor

School: Humanities and Social Sciences

I am an Assistant Professor in Criminology. 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 research internship on ‘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. I am also Programme Leader for Northumbria Police (DHEP) 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).

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
Policing, social media, and riots: User responses to the police during the 2024 UK summer protests and riots, Ralph, L., Robinson, P., Aitken, A. 16 Sep 2025, In: Policing and Society
The Crafting of an Online Police Métier. The case of Norwegian Online Police Patrols, Diderichsen, A., Rønn, K., Koss Hartmann, M., Ralph, L., Trottier, D. 20 May 2025, In: The Police Journal
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
Introduction to Policing, Rowe, M., Ralph, L., Malik, A. 14 Nov 2023
The dynamic nature of police legitimacy on social media, Ralph, L. 9 Aug 2022, In: Policing and Society

Professional Activity

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Oral presentation: Social media and the 2024 UK Summer Riots (Athens, European Society of Criminology) 2025
Oral presentation: Social Media Practices by Police Football Units in England and Wales (Bucharest, European Society of Criminology) 2024
Oral presentation: Police visual communication in the online world- Does it matter to citizens (Florence, European Society of Criminology) 2023
Invited talk: Police use of Twitter in the UK during the Euro 2020 football championships (University of Southern Denmark) 2023
Invited talk: The dynamic nature of police legitimacy on social media (University of Southern Denmark) 2022