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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 (4th 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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  • 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 Mar 2026, 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. 1 Mar 2026, 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
  • 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
  • Criminology PhD July 01 2020
  • Criminology MRes September 01 2015
  • Criminology BA (Hons) April 01 2014

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