Public criminology, reflexivity and the enterprise university: experiences of research, knowledge transfer, and co-option with police forces

This paper reflects on an enterprise project which aimed to build partnerships with police forces in England. In attempting to do ‘public criminology’ we were confronted with power dynamics which had to be negotiated in relation to internal and external organizational cultures, public management, and ‘audit culture’. We focus on two levels of co-option experienced, in relation to the university and the police: 1) internal university pressures such as definitions of ‘research’ and ‘enterprise’, funding, and the terms of the ‘contract’ of the project and 2) external pressures when engaging with police including new public management principles, quick fixes and academics as a ‘resource’. The discussion draws on data from field notes and interviews with police officers and staff.