Chair
Dr. Heather Strang
Dr. Strang is the Chair of the Cambridge Centre for Evidence-Based Policing. She is also the Director of the Jerry Lee Centre of Experimental Criminology, University of Cambridge, Institute of Criminology. In 2019 she was elected as President of the Academy of Experimental Criminology. Read more
Core Team
Simon Rose
Simon joined the team as Director of Studies in Police Intelligence Analytics in February 2022 when he retired from the Metropolitan Police Service after just over 30 years of service leaving as a Detective Chief Superintendent. His last role was as the OCU Commander for Met Intelligence leading a team of 1,450 officers and staff based in London, the Southeast UK and abroad. Simon has an extensive background in intelligence having served as a Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) and Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) in internal anti-corruption, a Borough Intelligence Manager as a Detective Inspector (DI) and a desk officer as a Detective Sergeant (DS) in Special Branch. Read More
Dr. Eleanor Neyroud
Eleanor Neyroud obtained her PhD at the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge. The focus of her PhD was the overlap between victimisation and offending in low level offenders. As well as working with the Centre for Evidence Based Policing and on the Cambridge Crime Harm Index, Eleanor is currently working as a data analyst Read more
Matt Sessions
After more than eight years with Surrey and Warwickshire Police Forces, Matt joined the Cambridge Centre for Evidence-Based Policing in January 2025. Here he leads the organisation's work within the fields of Problem-Oriented Policing (POP) and problem solving, whilst supporting other research and evaluation projects.
After initially working in intelligence and safeguarding departments, Matt became Surrey Police’s Problem Solving Tactical Advisor in early 2020. As part of the force’s inaugural Problem Solving Team, he developed new processes, training packages, and governance structures, resulting in three Tilley Award winners (UK problem solving awards), two Goldstein Award finalists (international POP awards), and an HMICFRS ‘Outstanding’ grading for prevention. Matt was also co-lead for one of the Tilley and Goldstein winners- Operation Blink (tackling catalytic converter theft).
Matt moved to Warwickshire Police in 2022, becoming their Problem Solving Team Manager. This involved shifting focus from a tactical to more strategic level, with a direct goal of embedding the principles of POP across the force. Here he proposed and devised an innovative Problem Solving App, led monthly problem solving learning webinars for two years (attended by colleagues, partners, and other forces), and devised and delivered a force Problem Solving Delivery Plan. He has been a Tilley Award sift judge since 2023 and is a frequent presenter at conferences.
Matt holds a Master of Science in Forensic Psychology and Bachelor of Science in Psychology, both from the University of Kent. He lives in the midlands with his wife and son, is an avid West Ham United supporter, and spends much of his time (when not thinking about POP) drinking coffee or cycling.
Dr Sara Valdebenito Munoz
Sara was awarded her PhD at the Institute of Criminology University of Cambridge in 2018. Her doctoral thesis focused on the evaluation of an intervention aimed at reducing school exclusions by utilising a randomised controlled trial design. Sara has been working with the Violence Research Centre at the University of Cambridge since 2017 and was was appointed as Assistant Professor in Applied Criminology and Police Management in January 2023
Vicki McLellan
Vicki McLellan joined CCEBP as Trial Manager in September 2021. Vicki has a Bachelor of Science degree in Forensic Science and has extensive experience in the trial and data management of complex research projects through her former role at the Leeds Clinical Trials Research Unit as a Senior Trial Manager.
Sumit Kumar
Sumit is a PhD Lee Fellow in Experimental Criminology at the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge and a tutor and project manager for the Cambridge Centre for Evidence-Based Policing. He has over 15 years of experience in teaching, consulting, and research where his particular interests include policing and comparative criminology. Sumit has collaborated with police forces nationally and internationally on diverse topics including homicide, terrorism and racial disparity. Prior to coming to Cambridge, Sumit was an embedded criminologist and consultant for the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, where he worked in the Office of the Commissioner of Police. He has conducted research in India and was also a consultant for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Sumit’s publications have appeared in the Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Policing, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism and the British Journal of Criminology.
Dr. Matthew Bland
Dr. Bland is a Lecturer in Evidence-Based Policing at the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, and a former Head of Strategic Analysis and Principal Intelligence Analyst for Norfolk and Suffolk Constabularies. Read more
Chris Maguire
After thirty-three years’ service within London’s Metropolitan Police, Chris’ last posting was as a Detective Superintendent Authorising Officer for major-crime Covert Human Intelligence Sources (CHIS) leading a team that provided specialist CHIS advice and delivered the most sensitive and challenging operations. Chris then worked as an IT security consultant for a large UK company undertaking a complex de-merger; delivering IT governance and policy, due diligence and risk analysis for suppliers and security testing of both systems and staff resilience.
Chris joined CCEBP in January 2023. He leads for us in information security and manages several of our research and evaluation projects. Chris also lectures on our in-person courses and is a tutor to those undertaking online training.
Abu Md Jafor Ullah
Abu is a barrister and an experienced community safety professional currently serving as the Prevent Strategy Manager at a London Borough. He holds a Master of Studies in Applied Criminology and Police Management from the University of Cambridge. His research at Cambridge focused on mapping Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) in public places, employing quantitative methods, criminological theories, and advanced techniques like unsupervised machine learning and geospatial mapping.
Abu has 17 years of experience in victim and witness services and community safety. Abu's academic background is as diverse as his professional experience. He holds a Master of Law, a PG Diploma in Bar Vocational Qualification, and a Bachelor of Law (Honours) from London. His educational journey also includes a Bachelor of Commerce and a Diploma in E-technology from Bangladesh.
Abu is a visiting lecturer for the Cambridge Centre for Evidence-Based Policing and Police Staff College, Bangladesh.
Fellows
DR. PETER NEYROUD, CBE QPM CCMI
Dr. Neyroud is an Associate Professor in Evidence-Based Policing and the Director of the M.St. Degree in Applied Criminology and Police Management (Police Executive Programme) at the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge.
Alex R. Piquero
Alexis R. Piquero is Professor and Chair of the Department of Sociology and Criminology and Arts & Sciences Distinguished Professor at the University of Miami. A nationally and internationally recognized expert in criminal careers, criminal justice policy, and quantitative research methods, he previously served as Editor of Journal of Quantitative Criminology (with former BJS Director James Lynch and then with Cathy Spatz Widom) as well as Justice Evaluation Journal. One of the most highly cited criminologists in the world, Piquero is Fellow of both the American Society of Criminology and the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. In 2019, he received the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Bruce Smith, Sr. Award for outstanding contributions to criminal justice and in 2020 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Division of Developmental & Life-Course Criminology of the American Society of Criminology. Over the course of his career, Piquero has served on several National Academy of Sciences Panels, including Evaluating the National Institute of Justice and Modernizing the Nation’s Crime Statistics. In 2015, he was appointed by US Attorney General Eric Holder to serve on the Office of Justice Programs Science Advisory Board.
Dr Vineet Kapoor
Vineet Kapoor is a senior police officer belonging to the Indian Police Service. He is currently serving as Deputy Inspector General of Police for Community policing for the state of Madhya Pradesh in India. He has a significant expertise in police training, human rights mainstreaming, inclusive law enforcement, access to justice, community safety and evidence based police research related to these areas of police practice. He has served at different police command level positions in India in the state of MP and Chhattisgarh along with Peace Keeping Positions in the UN. Dr Kapoor holds a PhD in Human Rights and Organizational Development and two master’s degrees, one in Human Rights Theory and Practice from the University of Essex UK and another one in the Development and Human Geography from Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University. His involvement in research related to evidence based policing on women’s help desks in the state of MP lead to a scale up on 1000 plus police stations – which remains a testimony to one of the largest and highly significant impact of evidence based action research on policing practice in India. He remains actively involved in number of research projects using RCTs, experimental data and evidence based analysis.
He has been a Visiting Professor on Global Security, Justice and Human Rights at the Democracy Lab of the University of Virginia, a Visiting Scholar on Human Rights and Access to Justice at Human Rights Center London School of Economics, a British Chevening Human Rights Fellow at the University of Essex and holds the position of honorary professor of Victim Justice and Policing , at the National Law University in Delhi -India. He has served on UN positions. He has also been the Regional Police Training Coordinator at the UN Mission in Kosovo-UNMIK. He is a Member of National Police Mission at BPRD- Ministry of Home Affairs New Delhi and holds membership of various police reforms bodies through the Bureau of Police Research and Development of the Ministry of Home Affairs Govt of India. Vineet Kapoor has recently been conferred the prestigious Leadership in Community Safety Award by the ICAP (International Association of the Chiefs of Police).
Richard Vickery
Richard recently retired from Kent Police following 30 years of service. He is an Associate Lecturer for the Policing Education Qualifications Framework (PEQF). His last posting was as the Police Lead of the Force’s Innovation Task Force. The team successfully managed and implemented a number of evidence-based policing projects in collaboration with CCEBP, including E-Bit and R-TREC, both closely aligned to the Cambridge Allocation Model (CAM). Read More
Jayne D Sykes, MSt (Cantab), BA (Hons)
Jayne Sykes offers three decades of experience in the West Yorkshire Police and, most recently, as T/Chief Executive of the WYP Office of Police and Crime Commissioner. A graduate of both the Strategic Command… Read more
Kent McFadzien
Kent McFadzien is the Research Manager at the Cambridge Centre for Evidence-Based Policing. He is completing a Ph.D. at the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge.
Dr. Vincent Harinam
Dr Vincent Harinam was the Director of Studies in Crime Data Science at the Cambridge Centre for Evidence-Based Policing. He completed his Ph.D. at the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge and taught the ‘Targeting Crime in Place and Time; advanved geospactial mapping’ course. Dr Harinam now works in The United States.
Crispian Strachan CBE QPM
Crispian began his policing career as a constable in London, served as a chief officer in Glasgow, and then as Chief Constable of Northumbria for seven years. Since 2010, he has served the Cambridge University Police Executive Programme as a supervisor of studies by mid-career police leaders. His work with evidence-based policing dates to 2001, when he joined a partnership of English agencies testing restorative justice conferences in multiple randomised controlled trials.
Dr. BARAK ARIEL
Dr. Ariel is a Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a Reader in Experimental Criminology at the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge.
DR. GEOFFREY BARNES
Dr. Barnes is an Affiliated Lecturer in Evidence-Based Policing at the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, and the Western Australia Police Director of Criminology.
PROFESSOR MARCUS BEALE
Marcus Beale has had 30 years of UK policing
experience, the last 10 years as an Assistant Chief Constable with the highly rated West Midlands Police and Staffordshire Police. He has extensive experience in counter terrorism
(CT), both operationally as a CT commander and Read More
LORD IAN BLAIR, QPM
Lord Blair is a former Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service and served as Co-Director of the Mid-Career Training Programme (Phase IV).
SUZETTE DAVENPORT, QPM
Ms. Davenport is a Supervisor in the M.St. Degree in Applied Criminology and Police Management (Police Executive Programme) at the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge.
DETECTIVE SERGEANT NATALIE HILTZ
Detective Sergeant Hiltz works with the Peel Regional Police Service in Ontario, Canada, and is completing the M.St. Degree in Applied Criminology and Police Management (Police Executive Programme) at the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge. Read More
CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT DAVID LAWES
Chief Superintendent Lawes works with the City of London Police, having responsibility for International Training and Development. He is a temporary Commander on secondment to the International Capabilities Team at the UK Home Office.
SAMANTHA MILLAR, QGM
Sam started her policing career in West Yorkshire Police having now transferred to North Yorkshire Police as Superintendent. During a time in the army as a young officer, Sam became an accomplished adventurer, was the first female officer to undertake arctic warfare survival, became a ski instructor and learned how to build igloos! Read More
Bruce O’Brien
Assistant Commissioner O’Brien joined New Zealand Police in 1999 and has worked most of his career in operational and investigation roles. Read More
SIR DENIS O’CONNOR, CBE QPM
Sir Denis O’Connor is the 2012 Radzinowicz Fellow at the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge.
JOHN D. PARKINSON, OBE
John D. Parkinson is a Visiting Professor at the University of Huddersfield and a Senior Fellow of the Cambridge Centre for Evidence-Based Policing. From 2013 through 2019, he was a supervisor in the Master’s degree in Applied Criminology and Police Management (Cambridge Police Executive Programme) at the University of Cambridge. A career police officer who retired in 2013 as Chief Constable of the West Yorkshire Police Read More
Dr Jacqueline Sebire
ACC Jacqueline Sebire joined Bedfordshire Police in February 2016 prior to this appointment the majority
of her service was as a detective in homicide and serious crime investigations in the Metropolitan Police. Read More
CHRISTOPHER SIMS, OBE QPM
Mr. Sims is a Supervisor in the M.St. Degree in Applied Criminology and Police Management (Police Executive Programme) at the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge.
DR. JUSTICE TANKEBE
Dr. Tankebe is a University Lecturer in Criminology and Director of the Ph.D. Programme at the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge.
STEPHEN WILLIAMS
Mr. Williams is the former Commissioner of Police (Acting) of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service. He is a part-time Lecturer at the Department of Behavioural Sciences, University of West Indies.