Overview
Bethan is currently Reader in Criminology and Criminal Justice. She joined the School of Social Sciences in January 2016, having previously been the recipient of several grants and fellowships at the School of Law, University of Manchester (2011-2015), and the Centre for Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Oxford (2008-2011). Bethan holds a PhD in Criminology (Keele University), an MA in Comparative Criminology and Criminal Justice (Bangor University, received with distinction) and a BA in Criminology and Criminal Justice (Bangor University, first class).
Her research interests lie in the areas of policing and security, in particular: policing cultures, covert/undercover policing and surveillance; the operation and governance of private security; border enforcement; the use of Artificial Intelligence in law enforcement, and the policing of social divisions. She has conducted two major ethnographic field studies, both of which involved conducting prolonged observations of police officers as they went about their ordinary duties. She has been awarded research grants from the ESRC and Leverhulme Trust, and won a Simon Fellowship at the University of Manchester where she conducted research on the policing of international borders. Bethan is the author of Police Culture in a Changing World (Oxford University Press) and articles in major journals.
Recently, Bethan was Co-Investigator on an ESRC grant entitled 'Borders, Boundary Mechanisms and Migration'. This project forms part of the WISERD Civil Society Research Centre, and examined the changing role of police and civil society organisations in the making and unmaking of political borders. It explored the humanitarian response to the migration and refugee crisis in the context of a rise in hostile, authoritarian government policy towards immigration and the increased presence of non-state, far-right political activity at borders.
Bethan is also currently involved in research projects that explore misogyny, interpersonal violence and non-fatal strangulation (NFS).
Bethan is an Editor for the British Journal of Criminology, and an Associate Editor for Theoretical Criminology, having previously been the book review editor for the latter (2012-2019).
Bethan's research interests are also reflected in her undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, including on the following modules: Policing, Security and the State; Serial Killers; and Comparative and International Criminal Justice.
Additional Contact Information
Reader in Criminology and Criminal Justice
Office: 114.2 Mezzanine Floor, Main Arts Building
Phone: 01248 382183
Email: b.loftus@bangor.ac.uk
Postgraduate Project Opportunities
Publications
2024
- PublishedBeing Watched: The Aftermath of Covert Policing
Loftus, B., Feilzer, M. & Goold, B., Sept 2024, In: Howard Journal of Criminal Justice. 63, 3, p. 245-271 35 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedScrutiny of Police Institutions and the Spectre of Culture
Feilzer, M. & Loftus, B., 1 Aug 2024, In: Political Quarterly .
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
2023
- PublishedAn Evaluation of the Agencies Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Tasking (ADAPT) Programme in North Wales
Loftus, B. & Hodgkinson, C., 1 Jun 2023, 38 p.
Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report - PublishedEthnography and the Evocative World of Policing
Bacon , M. (Editor), Loftus, B. (Editor) & Rowe, M. (Editor), 3 Dec 2023, London: Routledge. 234 p.
Research output: Book/Report › Book - PublishedThe Moral and Emotional World of Police Informants
Loftus, B., Bacon , M. & Skinns, L., Sept 2023, In: The Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles. 96, 3, p. 355–373
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
2022
- PublishedPolice Culture: Origins, Features and Reform
Loftus, B., 2022, 81 p.
Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report › peer-review - PublishedReflections on the Parallel Practices of Police Ethnographers and Covert Police
Loftus, B., Goold, B. & Mac Giollabhui, S., 30 Dec 2022, Routledge International Handbook of Police Ethnography . Fleming , J. & Charman, S. (eds.). 1 ed. Routledge
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
2020
- PublishedEthnography and the Evocative World of Policing (Part I)
Bacon , M., Loftus, B. & Rowe, M., 31 Jan 2020, In: Policing and Society: An International Journal of Research and Policy. 30, 1, p. 1-10
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedEthnography and the Evocative World of Policing: Part II
Bacon , M., Loftus, B. & Rowe, M., Feb 2020, In: Policing and Society: An International Journal of Research and Policy. 30, p. 117-119
Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial › peer-review
2019
- PublishedNormalizing covert surveillance: The Subterranean World of Policing
Loftus, B., Dec 2019, In: British Journal of Sociology. 70, 5, p. 2070-2091
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
2018
- PublishedPrivate security as a moral drama: A tale of two scandals
Löfstrand, C. H., Loftus, B. & Loader, I., 2018, In: Policing and Society: An International Journal of Research and Policy. 28, 8, p. 968-984
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
2016
- PublishedFrom a Visible Spectacle to an Invisible Presence: The Working Culture of Covert Policing
Loftus, B., Goold, B. & Mac Giollabhui, S., Jul 2016, In: British Journal of Criminology. 56, 4, p. 629-645
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedRevisiting the classics: S. Holdaway (1983) Inside the British police: a force at work
Loftus, B., 22 Jul 2016, In: Policing and Society: An International Journal of Research and Policy. 26, 6, p. 713-720 7 p., 6.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review › peer-review - PublishedWatching the watchers: Conducting ethnographic research on covert police investigation in the United Kingdom
Mac Giollabhui, S., Goold, B. & Loftus, B., Dec 2016, In: Qualitative Research. 16, 6, p. 630-645
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
2015
- PublishedBorder regimes and the sociology of policing
Loftus, B., 2015, In: Policing and Society: An International Journal of Research and Policy. 25, 1, p. 115-125
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedDoing ‘dirty work’: Stigma and esteem in the private security industry
Löfstrand, C. H., Loftus, B. & Loader, I., 9 Nov 2015, In: European Journal of Criminology. p. 1-18
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedPolicing assemblages and the vulnerable border
Loftus, B., 24 Nov 2015, In: European Journal of Policing Studies. 3, 2, p. 238-254
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
2013
- PublishedPolicing and the Surveillance of the Marginal: Everyday contexts of social control
O'Neill, M. & Loftus, B., Nov 2013, In: Theoretical Criminology. 17, 4, p. 437-454
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
2012
- PublishedCovert Surveillance and the Invisibilities of Policing
Loftus, B. & Goold, B., Jul 2012, In: Criminology and Criminal Justice. 12, 3, p. 275-289
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
2010
- PublishedPolice Culture in a Changing World
Loftus, B., Feb 2010, Oxford : Oxford University Press. (Clarendon Studies in Criminology )
Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review - PublishedPolice Occupational Culture: Classic Themes, Altered Times
Loftus, B., 2010, In: Policing and Society: An International Journal of Research and Policy. 20, 1, p. 1-20
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
2008
- PublishedDominant Culture Interrupted: Recognition, Resentment and the Politics of Change in an English Police Force
Loftus, B., Nov 2008, In: British Journal of Criminology. 48, 6, p. 778-797
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
2007
- PublishedPolicing the ‘Irrelevant’: Class, Diversity and Contemporary Police Culture
Loftus, B., 2007, Police Culture: New Debates and Directions. O'Neill, M., Marks, M. & Singh, A.-M. (eds.). Oxford : Elsevier Press, p. 181-204 (Sociology of Crime Law and Deviance; vol. 8).
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
Activities
2022
- BU-IIA Funded project: Artificial Intelligence (AI), Ethics & Policing in North Wales: Establishing Citizens’ Perspectives
In collaboration with North Wales Police (NWP), this project will identify and explore with police, civic and public stakeholders the benefits, challenges and ethical concerns raised through the police use of new computational technologies in policing, notably those involving claims to detect and predict criminality through risk-modelling and those based on Intelligent Facial Recognition.
Funding awarded through the Bangor University Innovation and Impact Award (Research Wales Innovation Funding). Value = £44,239
1 Apr 2022 – 31 Mar 2023
Activity: Other (Contributor)
2020
- Policing and Society: An International Journal of Research and Policy (Journal)
Ethnography and the Evocative World of Policing
Jan 2020 →
Activity: Editorial activity (Guest editor)
2019
- British Journal of Criminology (Journal)
2019 →
Activity: Editorial activity (Editorial board member) - Ethics of Police Stings
2019 →
Activity: Invited talk (Speaker) - Theoretical Criminology (Journal)
Reviews Editor (since 2013)
2019 →
Activity: Publication peer-review (Editor)
2018
- Live podcast for College of Policing
I took part in a series of three podcast interviews for the College of Policing, where I was discussing leadership and police culture.
Underpinning research: Based on original ethnograhpic fieldwork which has been published as a book and numerous articles.
Beneficiaries: The police.
General notes: Informing about the potentials and pitfalls of the occupational culture within the police.
10 Sep 2018
Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Media article or participation (Contributor) - Normalising Covert Surveillance: The Subterranean World of Policing
Invited speaker, All Souls Seminar Series, University of Oxford
2018 →
Activity: Invited talk (Speaker) - Watching the Watchers: Reflections on an Ethnography with Covert Police
Keynote: University of Liverpool
2018 →
Activity: Invited talk (Speaker)
Projects
-
Evaluation of the ADAPT programme in North Wales Police
01/01/2023 – 17/08/2023 (Finished)
-
KESS II MRes with North Wales Police- BUK2228
01/03/2022 – 31/03/2024 (Finished)
-
KESS II MRes with North Wales Police- BUK2197
01/10/2019 – 31/03/2024 (Finished)