Matthew joined the Open University in July 2017 as Teaching Director - Policing. He is responsible for the design and development of a portfolio of new policing programmes at the OU linked to the Police Education Qualifications Framework (PEQF). He is the Chair of the Policing Board of Study; sits on several departmental and faculty committees; and is part of the Centre for Policing Research and Learning leadership team. Matthew has previously held academic positions at Liverpool John Moores University (as Senior Lecturer in Policing) and Northumbria University Newcastle (as Programme Leader for Criminology).
An interdiciplinary social scientist, Matthew’s interests include:
- Policing: including the role and function of the police in contemporary society; community policing; policing and victimology; police and crime; researching police organisations.
- Criminal Justice Organisations and Management: including the structures and governance of key criminal justice organisations; ethics and accountability; visual and cultural representations; organisational culture and reform; evidence-based practice.
- Contemporary intersections between LGBT identities and crime / criminal justice organisations: including the occupational experiences and contributions of LGBT police officers; police investigation of LGBT hate crime.
Matthew is currently the Deputy-Chair of the British Society of Criminology Policing Network.
Current Project (2019-2021)
Matthew is currently working on a jointly funded ESRC project with Prof Mike Rowe (Northumbria University) and Prof Andrew Millie (Edge Hill University) entitled Visible Policing: the Affective Properties of Police Buildings, Images and Material Culture.
This project will be the first to explore the visual culture of contemporary policing. Drawing on visual sociology and visual criminology, it will make significant contributions by applying theories and methodologies of the visual to the sociology of policing. In particular, the project will focus on the symbolic power of police stations, the symbolic properties of police material culture (including ceremonial uniforms, flags, badges, tourist souvenirs, and children's toys), and the visibility of the police in social media, incorporating official and unofficial police accounts.