Dr Nicholas Howe

Director Of Institute Of Policing

Health, Education, Policing and Sciences

As Director of the Institute of Policing Nick oversees the development of the Institute as a centre of excellence for police education and training, research and innovation. The Institute also acts as the mechanism for the delivery of University programmes under the College of Policing’s Police Education Qualifications framework (PEQF).

He has also been involved with police leadership programmes both within the UK and abroad, working alongside the Royal Malaysia Police and Police services within the United Arab Emirates. Additionally, Nick serves as an independent academic advisor (policing expert) working with the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation and Academic and Vocational Qualifications.

Nick was formerly a police Chief Superintendent with Staffordshire Police with whom he served for 30 years. He performed a range of policing functions throughout his service including working with the force Criminal Investigation Department, Head of Training and Development, Firearms and Public Order Command and a range of other specialist functions. He led the review into the way Staffordshire Police undertook murder and more complex crime investigations and subsequently implemented structural change, forming the forces Major Crime Unit. He was also the police commander for a number of high-profile public events, including large-scale music festivals, football matches, and public disorder responses and firearms incidents. He served as Police Commander for one of the largest Basic Command Units (BCU) in the country and was heavily involved in local police partnerships. Whilst Commander his BCU were a national pilot for drugs testing orders, Work Force Modernisation, Management of the Prolific Offenders Scheme and other developmental projects. Under his leadership, the BCU were runners-up in the National Tilley Award for problem-solving policing in 2007. During 2008 he was seconded to Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) where he worked as a Staff Officer inspecting policing services throughout England and Wales against the backdrop of the Governments Reform Agenda. He retired from the police service in January 2009 to pursue a career as an academic.

Nick continues to maintain a high-profile media image with both national and local media and is often called upon to provide expert knowledge on policing and police-related issues.

Professional memberships and activities

Member of the British Society Criminology
Member of the Evidenced Based Policing Society
Member for the Centre of Crime, Justice and Security, Staffordshire University
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Academic qualifications

PhD (Philosophy) Are Organic Police Partnerships More Effective than Mandatory Police Partnership. (No corrections) Nottingham Trent University
MA Criminology, Keele University
Pg Cert (HE) Birmingham City University

Expertise

Police Education
Police Leadership, Governance and Accountability
Police Partnership Working
Community Safety
Policing Strategy
Police Youth Engagement
Crime and Crime Prevention

Research interests

Police Education
Police Leadership, Governance and Accountability
Police Partnership Working
Community Safety
Policing Strategy
Police Youth Engagement
Crime and Crime Prevention

Enterprise and commercial interests

I have worked extensively within leadership training, generating income for the University and developing and delivering bespoke and professional training to police officers and staff, together with local authority and other public sector employees.

I have extensive experience working with both UK and International partners.

Publications

Peer Reviewed Articles:

Wilson, D., Kemp, D., Howe, N and Harriet, T. (2011), Long Arms'-Length of the Law, British Journalism Review, Volume 22, Number 4, pp 64-72. Sage Publications.

Howe, N., Wilson, D., and Kemp, D. (2010) Police Disclosures: A Critical Analysis of Some Recent Police Autobiographies. The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice Vol49 No3. pp203-214. Wiley-Blackwell

Wilson, D., Howe, N., Kemp, D and Tolputt, H. (2010) When Serial Killers go Unseen: The Case of Trevor Hardy. Crime, Media, Culture - An International Journal. Vol 6 No2, pp153-168. Sage Publications.

Wilson, D., Howe, N., Kemp, D and Tolputt, H. (2010) Servicing the Media’s Needs at Arm’s Length: Police Media Relations during High-Profile Murder Investigations. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, Volume 5, Number 4, pp 343-355. Oxford University Press.

Book Chapter:

Prowle, M and Latham, R. (Eds) (forthcoming). The Case for Regional Policing in Public Policy and Public Services in the 21^st Century. Palgrave

Professional Journal Articles:

Howe, N. (2015) The Future of Police Training: A Collaborative Venture. The Police College Magazine, Ministry of the Interior, Qatar.

Howe, N. (2015) Police Professionalisation through Education: A case Study Polis Diraja Malaysia (PDRM) Royal Malaysia Police. The Police College Magazine, Ministry of the Interior, Qatar.

Conference Papers:

Howe, N. (2017) British Society of Criminology Annual Conference. The Morgan Report: A Critical Review.

Consultancy Research Reports:

Howe, N., Treadwell, J; Lamb, J., and Plimley, S. (2020) An Evaluation of Business Crime in Staffordshire. OPPC Staffordshire.

Howe, N. and Toner, A. (2013) An Evaluation of the Derbyshire Police OzBox Youth Diversion Initiative. Derbyshire Police.

nicholas.howe@staffs.ac.uk