School of Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy

Scarman lectures

Since 2008, Criminology at Leicester has invited high profile guest speakers to deliver papers on current issues in criminology, criminal justice, policing and community safety. These lectures are open to staff and students of the University of Leicester, and to the general public.

Scarman Lecture 2025: How can we prevent weapons-enabled street violence - academic and policy debates

Wednesday 24 September 2025, 5.00pm - 6.15pm

We are delighted to announce that the next Scarman Lecture will take place on Wednesday, 24 September 2025, at 5.00pm. Head of the College of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities, Professor Teela Sanders will open this year's Scarman Lecture.

Public place violence has been a core focus of government attention since the publication of the Serious Violence Strategy in 2018. At the heart the strategy was a desire to reduce serious violence – knife crime, gun crime and robbery – though public health focused approaches delivered via government funded violence reduction units. In this lecture an expert panel will discuss what contemporary patterns of violence look like in the UK and the challenges of delivering violence reduction to the public. Ultimately, we consider what types of interventions show promise and what directions policing and policy might take in future.

The expert panel will include:

  • Grace Strong, Director of Prevention, Leicestershire Police
  • Professor Andrew Newton, Professor of Criminology and Policing at Nottingham Trent University (NTU)
  • Tom Jewkes, Ben Kinsella Trust
  • Professor Matt Hopkins from the University of Leicester will chair this lecture. 

Moderated questions from the audience will also be catered for in the final 30 mins of the session. Please email lan11@le.ac.uk to submit any questions for the panel by the 21 September 2025.

This event will take place online and within the Peter Williams Lecture theatre. An e-invite will be sent shortly before the lecture takes place if you have booked a place online.

Find more information and book your place

Previous lectures

View a list of previous year's lectures; some of which are available to listen to on SoundCloud.

 

2020s

Academic year 2023/24

  • Jayne Butler, Manjit Atwal: Policing and Sexual Violence: Reflecting on challenges and opportunities for change (27 September 2023)

Academic year 2022/23

  • Professor John Holmwood, Dr Layla Aitlhadj, Dr Isobel Ingham-Barrow: Preventing equal participation. How the government's PREVENT strategy undermines democracy (28 September 2022)

Academic year 2021/22

  • Sue McAllister, Jason Kew: Drugs and the criminal justice system in the UK (29 September 2021)

Academic year 2020/21

  • David Lammy MP, Chief Constable Ian Hopkins QPM, Dr Martin Glynn, Dr Suzella Palmer: Policing, Race and Criminology in the UK (30 September 2020)

2010s

Academic year 2019/20

  • Professor Kalwant Bhopal: Black and minority ethnic (BME) experiences in higher education: social justice, exclusion and white privilege (25 September 2019)

Academic year 2018/19

  • Phil Scraton, Professor Emeritus: Fractured Lives, Dissenting Voices, Recovering Truth (26 September 2018)

Academic year 2017/18

Academic year 2016/17

Academic Year 2015/16

Academic year 2014/15

  • John Taft: Miscarriages of Justice Happen to Ordinary People (25 March 2015)
  • Shami Chakrabarti: On Liberty (11 February 2015)
  • Sue Berelowitz: No Longer Invisible: Child Protection and Children's Rights (26 November 2014)
  • Ben Gunn: Breaking The Carceral Machine (1 October 2014)

Academic year 2013/14

  • Professor John Lea: Privatising Probation: The Consolidation of the Risk Agenda (26 March 2014)
  • Frances Crook OBE: Justice and the Limits of Incarceration (19 February 2014)
  • Sir Clive Loader: The Role of the Police and Crime Commissioner in our Society (4 December 2013)
  • Professor David Nutt: Drugs Without the Hot Air (20 November 2013)
  • Keir Starmer QC: A Prosecution Service for the 21st Century (2 October 2013)

Academic year 2012/13

  • Dr Sharon Shalev: Solitary Confinement and Supermax Prisons: Lessons from America (22 May 2013)
  • Dr Barbara Perry: Rejected and Dejected: Impacts of Islamophobic Violence in Canada (8 May 2013)
  • Dr Anna Souhami: Becoming a Police Researcher: Ethics and Authenticity (27 March 2013)
  • Professor Jo Phoenix: Out of Place: Exploring the Criminalisation of Sexually Exploited Girls and Young Women (20 February 2013)
  • Nick Hardwick CBE: What's Prison Really Like? (12 December 2012)

Academic year 2011/12

  • Julian Buchanan: The Damage Caused By Drugs, Or The Damage Caused By Drug Policy? (13 June 2012)
  • Professor Tony Jefferson: The Riots 2011: Another Moral Panic Or....What? (8 February 2012)
  • Reece Walters: Invisible Violence: Air Pollution and the Politics of Regulation in the UK (11 January 2012)

Academic year 2010/11

  • Dr Chris A Williams: The Development of the Police National Computer, 1958-1975, and the Promises and Limitations of Computerisation (2 December 2010)

2000s

Academic year 2008/09

  • Professor Alice Hills: Ghetto Security: Policing Post-Conflict Cities (21 January 2009)
  • Rex Bloomstein: Crime and the Camera: Making Prison Documentaries - The Work of Rex Bloomstein (5 November 2008)
  • Martin Narey: Imprisonment, Crime and Child Poverty (7 May 2008)
  • Bruce George MP: Private Security and the Role of the Legislature (4 April 2008)

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