Proportionality and use of force [Ref 1.34]

Academic team: Professor Graham Pike and Dr Zoe Walkington
Policing partners: West Midlands Police
Academic partners: Professor Mark Levine and Dr Richard Philpot from Lancaster University
Status: Complete

Proportionality, particularly as it relates to ethnicity and legitimacy, is very important for policing and the issue is high on every force agenda.

The goal of the current project is to explore interactions that involve use of force between West Midlands Police officers and citizens, by analysing body-worn camera footage.

The research aims to determine whether the actions and behaviours of both officers and citizens differ depending on a range of factors, including ethnicity.

News

Blog post - From evidence to action: Convening partnerships to build more Inclusive Workplaces in policing

How do we ensure that research drives meaningful change in policing?  This question sat at the heart of the Delivering Inclusive Workplaces in Policing: Evidence, Experience and Real-world Change knowledge exchange event, held at The Open University's Walton Hall campus on 1 July.

9th July 2026