P-ACE Conference - Speakers

Professor Paul Taylor became the first Police Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA) on 1 May 2021, with a remit to connect science and technology expertise both in the UK and globally to keep policing at the forefront of best practice. The role of the Police CSA helps guide critical strategies, policies and decisions, helping police to protect millions of people.

Paul is Professor of Psychology at Lancaster University, Professor of Human Interaction at the University of Twente, and founding director of the UK Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats (CREST). Established in 2015, CREST has brought together over 140 researchers from 35 universities and SMEs to deliver research that informs policy and practice in security and policing. 

Over his career Professor Taylor has contributed science advice to a number of high-profile police investigations in the UK and overseas. In 2005 he received a Metropolitan Police Service Commissioner Commendation for his contributions.

Gill has a long track record within justice focused on creating safer, fairer communities and improving lives through evidence-based innovation. As a senior civil servant and forensic psychologist she has developed and led large scale national interventions tackling violence, sexual offending, domestic abuse, acquisitive crime and extremism. She set out the evidence based strategy for commissioning prisons and probation services, has built multidisciplinary data and evidence teams, and was previously the Director of a £35m UKRI investment in adolescent mental health. 

Much of her career has focused on translating evidence in action, building trust and collaboration across organisational and system divides. She became the Challenge Director for the Safer Streets Mission Accelerator Programme at UKRI just three months ago, and is looking forward to meeting colleagues and building strong and enduring connections with the P-ACEs.

Professor Liz Aston
https://napier-repository.worktribe.com/person/111057/dr-elizabeth-aston

Professor Andy Newton
https://www.ntu.ac.uk/staff-profiles/social-sciences/andy-newton

Professor Dan Birks
https://essl.leeds.ac.uk/law/staff/261/professor-daniel-birks

Professor Mark Levine
https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/psychology/about-us/people/mark-levine

Ed McBryde-Wilding is the Research and Innovation Network Manager for the Office of the Police Chief Scientific Adviser (OPCSA), where he leads the network and their engagement within policing and between academia, and industry to drive evidence-based innovation. With over 30 years of policing experience, Ed has held senior investigative and leadership positions across a wide range of operational Policing roles including the specialisms of cybercrime, digital forensics, economic crime, safeguarding and covert operations.

He has managed regional and national capabilities, including the East Midlands Cyber Crime Unit and Digital Forensics services, and has acted as Senior Investigating Officer for complex cyber and economic crime investigations, and kidnap and extortion incidents. Ed has also contributed to national strategy and policy development through the Home Office Science & Technology Commissioning Hub, shaping research priorities in digital, data, and covert capabilities.

Holding an MSc in Police Leadership and Management, Ed is passionate about fostering collaboration to translate cutting-edge research into operational impact, ensuring policing remains agile in the face of emerging threats.

David has 35 years’ experience in Policing. After joining Merseyside Police in 1990 where he served for almost 30 years across a wide range of operational roles. David moved into a national strategic role in 2020 where he led on the detailed design for the NPCC operating model before moving to his current role as Head of Strategy for the Police Chief Scientific Adviser. David is a leader in organisational transformation with significant experience in business re-engineering, efficiency, investment and cultural change. He is responsible for ensuring the development of efficient systems to support the police science and technology strategy and was pivotal in driving the creation of the Policing Problem Book.

As the Head of Research for the Office of the Police Chief Scientific Adviser (OPCSA), Carolyn supports the Police CSA in delivering the National Police Chief Council’s Science and Technology strategy in connecting science and technology expertise both in the UK and globally to keep policing at the forefront of best practice. This involves developing a science system, to understand, commission and use science and technology within policing, working collaboratively with academia and key stakeholders to influence funding, drive collaborations and share our priorities from basic research to embedding knowledge at the local, regional and national level. As well as supporting the professional workforce that enables science and technology across policing.

Prior to joining OPCSA, Carolyn joined Hampshire Constabulary in 1995 with disciplines in Forensic Science, Forensic Archaeology and a Doctorate in Criminal Justice, Carolyn has had several operational and leadership roles within Crime Scene Investigation and continues to contribute to science and operational forensic practice to UK and international police investigations/organisations. Carolyn is also a Teaching Fellow at the University of Portsmouth.

Professor Sarah Charman
https://www.port.ac.uk/about-us/structure-and-governance/our-people/our-staff/sarah-charman

Professor Aiden Sidebottom
https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/3456-aiden-sidebottom

Professor Tim Grant
https://research.aston.ac.uk/en/persons/tim-grant

Amanda joined West Mercia Police in 1992 and throughout her career has held various posts. She spent the first 11 years of her service gaining an invaluable amount of experience and knowledge across a variety of roles as a police constable.

In 2003 she was promoted to sergeant and, since then, across several ranks, has led teams in delivering critical services to communities. She has held the responsibility for intelligence and proactive functions and has been a Senior Investigating Officer as part of the Force Serious and Organised Crime Unit.

In 2008, seconded to the West Midlands Regional Intelligence Unit, she led the development of the critical processes around identifying and disrupting Organised Crime Groups. In addition, she has led the delivery of policing operations on a local level as a Local Policing Area Commander. She has also held the roles of Head of Public Protection and Head of Operational Support for West Mercia Police and Warwickshire Police. She has been a Tactical Firearms Commander and was a Specialist Strategic Firearms Commander.

Amanda has a Bachelor’s in science with Honours in Crime and Criminology.

Amanda was appointed as Deputy Chief Constable for West Mercia Police in February 2017 having previously been Assistant Chief Constable for Local Policing, since October 2014, for Warwickshire Police and West Mercia Police. She joined Gwent Police in October 2019 as Deputy Chief Constable.

Appointed as Chief Constable for North Wales in October 2022. She is the Chair of British Association of Women in Policing (BAWP)

She has national portfolio responsibilities for:

• Police National Database
• Volume Crime
• Prevention Committee
• VAWG – Wales
• Criminal Justice – Wales

Dr Anna Barker, TYP-ACE
https://leaf.leeds.ac.uk/profiles/dr-anna-barker/

Dr Sophie Nightingale
https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/psychology/about-us/people/sophie-nightingale

Professor Lesley McMillan
https://www.gcu.ac.uk/staff/lesleymcmillan

Professor Jon Bannister
https://www.mmu.ac.uk/staff/profile/professor-jon-bannister

Professor Loretta Trickett
https://www.ntu.ac.uk/staff-profiles/law/loretta-trickett

Dr Sherry Nakhaeizadeh, UCL P-ACE
https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/37456-sherry-nakhaeizadeh

Dr. Kevin Chetty, UCL P-ACE
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/iccs/dr-kevin-chetty

Professor Krzysztof Kredens, P-ACE LAB
https://research.aston.ac.uk/en/persons/krzysztof-kredens

Dr Olivia Brown, Bath P-ACE
https://researchportal.bath.ac.uk/en/persons/liv-brown

Professor Paul Smith, P-PACE
https://www.port.ac.uk/about-us/structure-and-governance/our-people/our-staff/paul-smith

Julia Morris
Julia is currently the acting head of Research, Analysis and Knowledge Sharing at the College of Policing, including the What Works Centre for Crime Reduction. Julia has over 20 years of experience working in government social research for policing. She is particularly interested in how to mobilise knowledge and use it to drive evidence-based improvement and systemic change. Her work includes the development of the perennial problems in policing; set up of the Crime Reduction Toolkit; and more recently exploring the use of behavioural science to design and deliver changes in police practice.