Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge

26/08/2026

In two weeks' time, we will be taking applications for our MSt in Applied Criminology and Police Management.

This programme offers a two-year, part-time Master’s degree for officers and managers in law enforcement, the criminal justice system, and security. Attendees will learn about evidence-based approaches to crime reduction and justice and have the opportunity to apply this learning to pressing issues within their professions. While studying, they will be living at Cambridge, with the opportunity to experience this institution's unique history and culture.

All senior professionals are welcome to apply, regardless of their previous academic experience.

Learn more about the course: https://www.crim.cam.ac.uk/mst-applied-criminology-penology-and-management

26/08/2026

In two week's time, we will start accepting applications for our MSt in Applied Criminology, Penology and Management.

This programme offers a two-year, part-time Master’s degree for senior professionals within criminal justice, including probation and community justice, the voluntary and third sectors, the legal community, and allied professions such as psychologists and psychiatrists. We will provide students with cutting-edge theory and research in criminology, as well as the opportunity to apply it to their work through independent research. While studying, they will be living at Cambridge colleges and receive individual teaching sessions in addition to lectures and seminars.

All senior professionals are welcome to apply, regardless of whether they have academic backgrounds.

Learn more about the course: https://www.crim.cam.ac.uk/mst-applied-criminology-penology-and-management

13/08/2026

A policing workshop on 16 to 17 April allowed attendees to experience the difficulties faced by police officers, using virtual reality technology.

Assistant Research Professor Gabriela Diana Roman led the workshop, with technology supplied by Operator XR, alongside officers and researchers from the London Metropolitan Police, and other criminology researchers.

When attendees put on the device, they were able to enact common policing scenarios, including a stop-and-search of a suspect driving a stolen car, and responding to a suicidal individual.

The VR arrest simulations will anchor a much larger study, 'Building the Trust Bridge'. This study will set out to repair the fraying relationship between the public and the police, focusing on how trust is formed, damaged and rebuilt.

“Police reform is happening at different paces, and with some success," Roman explained. "What this project tries to do is rebuild the bridge of trust from the other end, to bring us closer to understanding the humanity of the officers behind the uniform.”

🔗 https://www.crim.cam.ac.uk/news/virtual-reality-workshop-promotes-more-thoughtful-engagement-policing

12/08/2026

Dr Jake Phillips recently wrote in The Conversation about the challenges of prison reform, in response to early release of thousands of prisoners under the Sentencing Act 2026.

Phillips discusses the current overcrowding in the UK prison system in the context of public attitudes around punitiveness. In response, he proposes practical reforms that could increase capacity, while demonstrating procedural legitimacy to the public.

Read the full story:

What shapes leaders’ responses to issues of crime and justice is not that toughness wins, but that leniency-gone-wrong loses.

06/08/2026

Next month we will start accepting applications for our MSt in Applied Criminology, Penology and Management.

This programme offers a two-year, part-time Master’s degree for senior professionals within criminal justice, including probation and community justice, the voluntary and third sectors, the legal community, and allied professions such as psychologists and psychiatrists. We will provide students with cutting-edge theory and research in criminology, as well as the opportunity to apply it to their work through independent research. While studying, they will be living at Cambridge colleges, and receive individual teaching sessions in addition to lectures and seminars.

We welcome applications from all senior professionals, including those without academic backgrounds.

Learn more:
https://www.crim.cam.ac.uk/mst-applied-criminology-penology-and-managemen

04/08/2026

Next month we will begin taking applications for our MSt in Applied Criminology and Police Management.

This programme offers a two-year, part-time Master’s degree for officers and managers in policing, wider law enforcement, the criminal justice system, and security. Attendees will learn about evidence-based approaches to crime reduction and justice and have the opportunity to apply this learning to pressing issues within their professions. While studying, they will be living at Cambridge colleges and receive individual teaching sessions in addition to lectures and seminars.

We welcome applications from all senior professionals, including those without academic backgrounds.

Learn more about the Policing MSt: https://www.crim.cam.ac.uk/mst-applied-criminology-and-police-management-police-executive-programme

30/07/2026

We remember Professor Andrew von Hirsch, whose work shaped generations of thinking on punishment, justice and criminal responsibility.

A valued member of both the Institute of Criminology and the Faculty of Law, he leaves an enduring legacy through his ideas, teaching and generosity.

Read more: https://www.crim.cam.ac.uk/news/andreas-von-hirsch-distinguished-penal-theorist-and-criminologist-1934-2026

21/07/2026

Parole is supposed to ask a practical question: has a person serving a life sentence reached the point they could be released?

However, a new research paper by PhD student Karan Tripathi, together with Netanel Dagan from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, found that parole often becomes a place which extends punitive measures.

Their research compared parole for life-sentenced prisoners in India and Israel and found that both systems produced punitive outcomes. They found that punitivity can be built into formal rules, and operates through administrative discretion, moral language, and political calculation. This creates a divided parole field, where some prisoners are treated as citizens who may be assessed for release, while for others, release is seen as nearly unthinkable.

These findings will prove invaluable for parole reform, by asking how decision makers decide which people deserve a future outside prison.

🔗https://www.crim.cam.ac.uk/news/phd-students-research-reveals-hidden-politics-parole-life-sentenced-prisoners

17/07/2026

It was a pleasure to welcome Professor Sir Anthony Bottoms and Professor Lawrence Sherman to the 2026 Evidence-Based Policing Conference.

Professor Sherman was one of the pioneers in the field of evidence-based policing, and Professor Bottoms helped found our MSt in Applied Criminology and Police Management. It is a testimony to their diligence and hard work that the Policing MSt is still going after 30 years, and evidence-based policing is not just a subject of constant discussion, but a key part of modern policing.

16/07/2026

On Tuesday, we held the annual dinner for the Evidence-Based Policing Conference.

Once again, it was a pleasure to bring together so many diverse people, with such a variety of expertise, and seat them down together. This is the ethos of criminology, and Cambridge more broadly.

We hope everyone at the dinner enjoyed it.