Eric Halford
Biographic Data
| ID | 1081900 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Eric Halford |
| GIVEN NAMES | Eric |
| FAMILY NAME | Halford |
| SIGNATURE | HALFORD E |
| AFFILIATIONS | Rabdan Academy |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3913-1679 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 10 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 21 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2019 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Police Risk and Threat Assessments
This scoping review examines the current landscape of police risk and threat assessment in England and Wales, identifying origin, breadth and scope of application, as well as empirical efficacy. The analysis highlights a strong adherence to core principles of risk and threat assessment, with structured professional judgement (SPJ) approaches being favoured. The most rigorous and empirically validated assessments are found at the individual or typ…
Determinants of Police Motivation
Research on police motivation is rare within the Arab world, a region distinct for its economic, cultural, religious, and social landscape, compared to the commonly studied Western settings. Addressing this gap, we integrated frameworks of motivational theory into a comprehensive survey completed by over 350 officers from a single police department in the United Arab Emirates. Our study examined factors derived from expectancy, goal-setting, and …
The transformer led policing matrix
The Transformer-Led Policing (TLP) model, published in 2025, provided a framework for applying artificial intelligence (AI) in policing, including Generative AI (GenAI). This article introduces a matrix to support this model, providing policing with a quantitative tool that scores 12 elements required for safe AI development and implementation, including: operational validity, integration, usability, privacy, data handling, safety, stakeholder en…
A preliminary exploration of the association between adverse childhood experiences and police misconduct
This study investigates the relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and police misconduct. ACEs encompass traumatic events that occur before age 18, such as physical, emotional and sexual abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction. ACEs have been linked to negative outcomes, including increased contact with the criminal justice system, and mental illness. Using self-reporting survey data obtained from 484 police officers, both wi…
Policing in the age of artificial intelligence
This study uses automation probability scores from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to establish police functions at risk of automation due to technological advancements, including generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). Simulations explore how improving AI and technology acceptance affect probability and scale of impact. Findings indicate large numbers of employees are at high risk of full or partial automation or augmentation, depen…
Is there an ideal missing person? A theoretical case study using long-term unresolved missing persons cases
Whether a missing person is considered to meet preconceived norms and societal expectations heavily influences the response of the police, public, and media. Nils Christie's ‘ideal victim’ theory therefore lends itself well to the study of missing people. This article examines this using police data from the United Kingdom. A comparison of solved versus long-term unresolved cases are used as a case study to explore the hypothesis that perceptions…
Clear, hold, build
Clear, Hold, Build (CHB) has been promoted by the United Kingdom Home Office as a place-based framework for tackling serious and organised crime (SOC), with official reporting suggesting an almost 25% reduction in acquisitive offences. This article assesses whether CHB represents substantive innovation beyond established crime-prevention and reduction approaches and evaluates the robustness of the claimed impacts. The analysis examines CHB doctri…
Emerging results on the impact of Covid-19 on police training in the United Kingdom
The emergence of COVID-19 impacted teaching across the globe and this study is the first to examine the impact it had on the delivery of training within policing by seeking to address how police services in the United Kingdom adapted their delivery during the pandemic. The study achieves this by focussing on 3 aims (1) How did police services in the United Kingdom adapt delivery of training and education during the COVID-19 pandemic? (2) What was…
Classifying missing persons cases
Missing persons cases present a complex challenge for law enforcement globally and require a nuanced understanding of their typologies.This study provides a comprehensive analysis of cases from the United Kingdom, from within a single police service, focusing on the alignment of police missing person risk assessment (RA) factors with existing typologies.Utilizing data exclusively from nearly 5000 police RAs, the study undertakes a multi-stage ana…
Perspectives on geographical profiling in the United Kingdom
Geographical profiling is a form of crime analysis that can be used to help predict the area within which the home or base of a serial offender resides. Police services globally have incorporated it into their crime analysis capabilities but there remains limited research on how this has been achieved. In this article, we interview 10 geographical profilers working in the field to gather their experiences of the operational use of geographical pr…
The Proportionality of Police Stop and Search in the Coronavirus Pandemic
Multiple studies and reports have now concluded that the police in the United Kingdom (UK) disproportionately enforced coronavirus legislation against black and minority ethnic communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. This disproportionality was enforced through coronavirus fines which were introduced as part of coercive measures designed to restrict the movement of citizens. The use of coercive tactics by the police as a tool for maintaining or…
Do hotspot policing interventions against optimal foragers cause crime displacement
Optimal forager theory (OFT) initially emerged from ecological studies, elucidating how foraging organisms seek resources. In recent decades, this ecological theory has migrated to the realm of criminology, where it is used to identify burglary offenders and inform crime analysis. Several police services employ optimal forager theory-based analysis to guide hotspot patrol interventions aimed at reducing domestic burglary. Crime displacement resul…
On the decision-making framework for policing
This article introduces the Decision-Making Framework for Policing (DMFP), a comprehensive tool designed to enhance the decision-making understanding of police officers. The DMFP considers the principles of heuristic, naturalistic, and rational decision-making along a fluid cognitive continuum to create a framework that addresses the limitations of the existing police National Decision Model (NDM). It achieves this by including 10 proposed typolo…
Using chat GPT to evaluate police threats, risk and harm
General purpose artificial intelligence (GPAI) is a form of advanced AI system that includes the recently introduced ChatGPT. GPAI is known for its capacity to understand and emulate human responses, and potentially offers an opportunity to reduce human error when conducting tasks that involve analysis, judgement, and reasoning. To support officers to do this, the police presently use a range of decision-making support tools, one of which is call…
Using machine learning to conduct crime linking of residential burglary
Return home interviews with children who have been missing
Responding to reports of missing children is an everyday occurrence in many police agencies, and a significant source of police demand. In England, there is a statutory requirement that all those under the age of 18 be offered a return home interview (RHI) within 72 hours of returning from a missing episode. The main purpose of an RHI is to better understand the reasons why a young person went missing and, where necessary, put measures in place t…
Investigating the police use of stop and search in England and Wales during the coronavirus pandemic
In this study we examine the use of the police stop and search tactic for preventing and investigating crime and as a method for maintaining order, during periods of national lockdown in England and Wales during the covid-19 global pandemic. By using time series modelling on data for all recorded stop and search over a 5-year period, we identify that of the 24 areas we examined, 16 saw the volume of stop and search increase significantly during l…
Operation provide
Because of the lockdown conditions imposed in the United Kingdom to control the spread of the COVID-19 virus, police services responded to the risk of increased domestic abuse and intimate partner violence in a variety of ways. This study evaluates the effectiveness of a multi-agency pilot program put in place to increase the engagement in both the criminal investigation and safeguarding actions of the police and other agencies for victims of int…
An Exploration of the Impact of Covid-19 on Police Demand, Capacity and Capability
This project report outlines the findings of an initial exploratory study of the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the demand, capacity, and capability of the police within the United Kingdom. Freedom of information requests provide data regarding employees affected by COVID-19, including those working from home. A survey of police employees adds richness by exploring the departments and specialist capabilities affected. Preliminar…
Crime and coronavirus
Governments around the world restricted movement of people, using social distancing and lockdowns, to help stem the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. We examine crime effects for one UK police force area in comparison to 5-year averages. There is variation in the onset of change by crime type, some declining from the WHO ‘global pandemic’ announcement of 11 March, others later. By 1 week after the 23 March lockdown, all recorded crime had d…
Missing children
Investigating reports of missing children is a major source of demand for the police in the UK. Repeat disappearances are common, can indicate underlying vulnerabilities and have been linked with various forms of exploitation and abuse. Inspired by research on repeat victimisation, this paper examines the prevalence and temporal patterns of repeat missing episodes by children, as well as the characteristics of those involved. Using data on all mi…
Missing children
Investigating reports of missing children is a major source of demand for the police in the UK. Repeat disappearances are common, can indicate underlying vulnerabilities and have been linked with various forms of exploitation and abuse. Inspired by research on repeat victimisation, this paper examines the prevalence and temporal patterns of repeat missing episodes by children, as well as the characteristics of those involved. Using data on all mi…
On the decision-making framework for policing
This article introduces the Decision-Making Framework for Policing (DMFP), a comprehensive tool designed to enhance the decision-making understanding of police officers. The DMFP considers the principles of heuristic, naturalistic, and rational decision-making along a fluid cognitive continuum to create a framework that addresses the limitations of the existing police National Decision Model (NDM). It achieves this by including 10 proposed typolo…
An Exploration of the Impact of Covid-19 on Police Demand, Capacity and Capability
This project report outlines the findings of an initial exploratory study of the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the demand, capacity, and capability of the police within the United Kingdom. Freedom of information requests provide data regarding employees affected by COVID-19, including those working from home. A survey of police employees adds richness by exploring the departments and specialist capabilities affected. Preliminar…
Investigating the police use of stop and search in England and Wales during the coronavirus pandemic
In this study we examine the use of the police stop and search tactic for preventing and investigating crime and as a method for maintaining order, during periods of national lockdown in England and Wales during the covid-19 global pandemic. By using time series modelling on data for all recorded stop and search over a 5-year period, we identify that of the 24 areas we examined, 16 saw the volume of stop and search increase significantly during l…
Missing children
Investigating reports of missing children is a major source of demand for the police in the UK. Repeat disappearances are common, can indicate underlying vulnerabilities and have been linked with various forms of exploitation and abuse. Inspired by research on repeat victimisation, this paper examines the prevalence and temporal patterns of repeat missing episodes by children, as well as the characteristics of those involved. Using data on all mi…
Crime and coronavirus
Governments around the world restricted movement of people, using social distancing and lockdowns, to help stem the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. We examine crime effects for one UK police force area in comparison to 5-year averages. There is variation in the onset of change by crime type, some declining from the WHO ‘global pandemic’ announcement of 11 March, others later. By 1 week after the 23 March lockdown, all recorded crime had d…
Operation provide
Because of the lockdown conditions imposed in the United Kingdom to control the spread of the COVID-19 virus, police services responded to the risk of increased domestic abuse and intimate partner violence in a variety of ways. This study evaluates the effectiveness of a multi-agency pilot program put in place to increase the engagement in both the criminal investigation and safeguarding actions of the police and other agencies for victims of int…
An Exploration of the Impact of Covid-19 on Police Demand, Capacity and Capability
This project report outlines the findings of an initial exploratory study of the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the demand, capacity, and capability of the police within the United Kingdom. Freedom of information requests provide data regarding employees affected by COVID-19, including those working from home. A survey of police employees adds richness by exploring the departments and specialist capabilities affected. Preliminar…
Return home interviews with children who have been missing
Responding to reports of missing children is an everyday occurrence in many police agencies, and a significant source of police demand. In England, there is a statutory requirement that all those under the age of 18 be offered a return home interview (RHI) within 72 hours of returning from a missing episode. The main purpose of an RHI is to better understand the reasons why a young person went missing and, where necessary, put measures in place t…
Investigating the police use of stop and search in England and Wales during the coronavirus pandemic
In this study we examine the use of the police stop and search tactic for preventing and investigating crime and as a method for maintaining order, during periods of national lockdown in England and Wales during the covid-19 global pandemic. By using time series modelling on data for all recorded stop and search over a 5-year period, we identify that of the 24 areas we examined, 16 saw the volume of stop and search increase significantly during l…
Emerging results on the impact of Covid-19 on police training in the United Kingdom
The emergence of COVID-19 impacted teaching across the globe and this study is the first to examine the impact it had on the delivery of training within policing by seeking to address how police services in the United Kingdom adapted their delivery during the pandemic. The study achieves this by focussing on 3 aims (1) How did police services in the United Kingdom adapt delivery of training and education during the COVID-19 pandemic? (2) What was…
Classifying missing persons cases
Missing persons cases present a complex challenge for law enforcement globally and require a nuanced understanding of their typologies.This study provides a comprehensive analysis of cases from the United Kingdom, from within a single police service, focusing on the alignment of police missing person risk assessment (RA) factors with existing typologies.Utilizing data exclusively from nearly 5000 police RAs, the study undertakes a multi-stage ana…
Perspectives on geographical profiling in the United Kingdom
Geographical profiling is a form of crime analysis that can be used to help predict the area within which the home or base of a serial offender resides. Police services globally have incorporated it into their crime analysis capabilities but there remains limited research on how this has been achieved. In this article, we interview 10 geographical profilers working in the field to gather their experiences of the operational use of geographical pr…
The Proportionality of Police Stop and Search in the Coronavirus Pandemic
Multiple studies and reports have now concluded that the police in the United Kingdom (UK) disproportionately enforced coronavirus legislation against black and minority ethnic communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. This disproportionality was enforced through coronavirus fines which were introduced as part of coercive measures designed to restrict the movement of citizens. The use of coercive tactics by the police as a tool for maintaining or…
Do hotspot policing interventions against optimal foragers cause crime displacement
Optimal forager theory (OFT) initially emerged from ecological studies, elucidating how foraging organisms seek resources. In recent decades, this ecological theory has migrated to the realm of criminology, where it is used to identify burglary offenders and inform crime analysis. Several police services employ optimal forager theory-based analysis to guide hotspot patrol interventions aimed at reducing domestic burglary. Crime displacement resul…
On the decision-making framework for policing
This article introduces the Decision-Making Framework for Policing (DMFP), a comprehensive tool designed to enhance the decision-making understanding of police officers. The DMFP considers the principles of heuristic, naturalistic, and rational decision-making along a fluid cognitive continuum to create a framework that addresses the limitations of the existing police National Decision Model (NDM). It achieves this by including 10 proposed typolo…
Using chat GPT to evaluate police threats, risk and harm
General purpose artificial intelligence (GPAI) is a form of advanced AI system that includes the recently introduced ChatGPT. GPAI is known for its capacity to understand and emulate human responses, and potentially offers an opportunity to reduce human error when conducting tasks that involve analysis, judgement, and reasoning. To support officers to do this, the police presently use a range of decision-making support tools, one of which is call…
Using machine learning to conduct crime linking of residential burglary
Police Risk and Threat Assessments
This scoping review examines the current landscape of police risk and threat assessment in England and Wales, identifying origin, breadth and scope of application, as well as empirical efficacy. The analysis highlights a strong adherence to core principles of risk and threat assessment, with structured professional judgement (SPJ) approaches being favoured. The most rigorous and empirically validated assessments are found at the individual or typ…
Determinants of Police Motivation
Research on police motivation is rare within the Arab world, a region distinct for its economic, cultural, religious, and social landscape, compared to the commonly studied Western settings. Addressing this gap, we integrated frameworks of motivational theory into a comprehensive survey completed by over 350 officers from a single police department in the United Arab Emirates. Our study examined factors derived from expectancy, goal-setting, and …
The transformer led policing matrix
The Transformer-Led Policing (TLP) model, published in 2025, provided a framework for applying artificial intelligence (AI) in policing, including Generative AI (GenAI). This article introduces a matrix to support this model, providing policing with a quantitative tool that scores 12 elements required for safe AI development and implementation, including: operational validity, integration, usability, privacy, data handling, safety, stakeholder en…
A preliminary exploration of the association between adverse childhood experiences and police misconduct
This study investigates the relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and police misconduct. ACEs encompass traumatic events that occur before age 18, such as physical, emotional and sexual abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction. ACEs have been linked to negative outcomes, including increased contact with the criminal justice system, and mental illness. Using self-reporting survey data obtained from 484 police officers, both wi…
Policing in the age of artificial intelligence
This study uses automation probability scores from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to establish police functions at risk of automation due to technological advancements, including generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). Simulations explore how improving AI and technology acceptance affect probability and scale of impact. Findings indicate large numbers of employees are at high risk of full or partial automation or augmentation, depen…
Is there an ideal missing person? A theoretical case study using long-term unresolved missing persons cases
Whether a missing person is considered to meet preconceived norms and societal expectations heavily influences the response of the police, public, and media. Nils Christie's ‘ideal victim’ theory therefore lends itself well to the study of missing people. This article examines this using police data from the United Kingdom. A comparison of solved versus long-term unresolved cases are used as a case study to explore the hypothesis that perceptions…
Clear, hold, build
Clear, Hold, Build (CHB) has been promoted by the United Kingdom Home Office as a place-based framework for tackling serious and organised crime (SOC), with official reporting suggesting an almost 25% reduction in acquisitive offences. This article assesses whether CHB represents substantive innovation beyond established crime-prevention and reduction approaches and evaluates the robustness of the claimed impacts. The analysis examines CHB doctri…
Psychology (13 works) · Crime Patterns and Interventions (11 works) · Policing Practices and Perceptions (11 works) · Criminology (9 works) · Medicine (9 works) · Political science (8 works) · Computer Science (6 works) · Sociology (6 works) · Law (5 works) · Pandemic (5 works)