It’s been a little while since I last updated on how my professional doctorate is coming along. I’m researching policing service provision for Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller groups in Scotland and the rest of the UK. I’ve had some really great data from both a policing perspective and from Gypsies, Roma, and Travellers in Scotland. When I last blogged, I was just finishing up my interviews.

After literature reviews, project upgrade reviews, and months of preparation and piloting, I’m delighted to finally start data collection for the first project of my professional doctorate. I’m examining how the criminal justice system can adapt to better serve the needs of Gypsies, Roma, and Travellers in the UK. The first step in such an endeavour is to examine how police services go about providing services to GRT communities at present. This exploration of the status quo will allow me to discuss how engagement with GRT communities is carried out, what the barriers to and facilitators of effective engagement with these communities are, and whether there are innovations in service provision that could be transferred to Scotland.

Morning folks,

I’ve been asked by the Scottish Institute for Policing Research to write a little piece about additional considerations during the Covid-19 pandemic. From engagement to explaining, to custody suites and Coronavirus legislation, I’ve tried to squeeze as much into 800 words as I could. I also discuss the impact Covid-19 has had on some of Scotland’s most vulnerable people and communities such as domestic abuse victims and Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller groups.