Technology Futures Institute
     

Crime and security

Research within the crime and security theme builds on a widely and nationally recognised reputation for expertise in this arena and is concentrated on the development and application of new methodologies and future technologies for the crime and security sector.

Specifically, our research addresses two major thrusts, public protection and crime detection and resolution.

Digital Evidence LaboratoryPublic protection research attempts to safeguard individuals and organisations from the impact of intentional crime or negligence. Examples of current work include major projects ensuring the safety of food.

Crime detection and resolution research involves improving the capabilites of the police, forensic and other security services and institutions in terms of detecting evidence for criminal activity and breaches of security, and improving methodologies and approaches to the response and management of these incidents.

Examples include:

  • work on a revolutionary automated spectroscopic scanner for scenes of crime
  • micro and nanosystems for miniaturised diagnostic systems
  • improved identification and analysis of fragmented human remains using FT-IR
  • determination of the cause of traumatic injury in the body and enhancing methods of human identification (criminal contexts) and verification (security contexts).

Collaboration in these areas exists with many leading institutions, both nationally and internationally. Examples of on-going collaborations include those with universities in the UK (such as Durham, Southampton and Birmingham) and international (such as Helsinki, Finland and Sassari, Italy), as well as organisations such as the Trading Standards Institute and the Food Standards Agency.

Forensic GenticsNew technologies and methods developed by staff within the Technology Futures Institute are already being applied to the crime and security field, while enterprise activity has successfully exploited this group’s acknowledged expertise within the region and further afield.

Projects

Leverhulme Trust funded Body Modifications project

Academic staff

Research staff

  • Liberty Horner