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Dr Anna Hopkins

Profile summary

  • Central Academic Staff
  • Lecturer in Policing Organisation and P
  • The Faculty of Business & Law
  • The Open University Business School
  • Policing in FBL
  • anna.hopkins

Professional biography

Anna Hopkins joined Policing Organisation and Practice Team as a Lecturer in November 2020. She is part of the team designing and delivering the new Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship (PCDA) for new police officers, as well as contributing to the overall development of programmes under the Police Education Qualifications Framework (PEQF).

Before joining the team at the OU, Anna worked as a Senior Lecturer at Edge Hill University where she was Year Leader and module leader for several modules. Anna has extensive experience in lecturing in Policing as well as Criminology and Psychology having taught in various universities across the North West of the UK.

Prior to becoming an academic, Anna served as a Police Officer in Greater Manchester Police where she worked in many front line capacities and specialised in Domestic Violence. 

Anna worked on a domestic homicide project with Professor Sandra Walklate analysing the then IPCC reports to further the understanding of the police's involvement in domestic violence cases prior to the homicide occurring. 

Anna currently advises Merseyside Police in matters pertaining to the policing of Domestic Violence. 

Research interests

Anna's currently working on an OU project with Senior Research Fellow Lis Bates which addresses victim engagement and disengagement in domestic violence and rape cases. 

 Anna's research interests focus around victim decision-making in Domestic Violence and Domestic Homicides. Anna's PhD analysed a large number of victim police statements to thematically represent victim decision-making in reporting and retracting domestic violence to the police. Anna is particularly interested in understanding domestic violence victim engagement and what processes/concepts assist in improving victim engagement. 

Teaching interests

Public Protection, vulnerability and victimology. 

Impact and engagement

Walklate, S., Hopkins, A. Real Lives and Lost Lives: Making Sense of ‘Locked in’ Responses to Intimate Partner Homicide. Asian J Criminol 14, 129–143 (2019). 

External collaborations

Anna currently advises Merseyside Police on matters pertaining to domestic violence. 

Member of the International Police Association: Have forged international working relationships with German Police forces and educational police training institutions. 

Publications

Examining reasons for victim retraction in domestic violence and abuse: A qualitative analysis of police retraction statements in the United Kingdom (2023)
Hopkins, Anna
The Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles ((Early Access))

‘This statement is true to the best of my knowledge and belief’: a provisional assessment of the utility of police victim statements in the qualitative understanding of domestic violence and abuse (2022)
Hopkins, Anna and Miller, Paul K.
Journal of Gender-Based Violence ((Early access))