Professor Layla Skinns

School of Law

Reader in Criminology

Director of PGR

L.Skinns@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 6775

Bartolomé House

Full contact details

Professor Layla Skinns
School of Law
Bartolomé House
Winter Street
Sheffield
S3 7ND

Profile

Layla Skinns' Curriculum Vitae (PDF)

Layla Skinns is a member of the Centre for Criminological Research at the University of Sheffield.

Her main areas of interest are currently police, policing and police discretion and police governance, in the context of the police custody process in England and Wales, and in other common-law jurisdictions.

She also has a strong interest in multi-agency criminal justice partnerships, such as the community safety partnerships, which was the subject of her PhD, and a keen interest in mixed-methods research.

Before joining the Centre for Criminological Research, Layla worked at the University of Cambridge, where she was the Adrian Socio-Legal Research Fellow at Darwin College and a Teaching Associate at the Institute of Criminology on the MSt. in Applied Criminology for senior police, prison and probation staff.

Whilst working as a Research Fellow at Darwin College, she co-organised the prestigious Darwin College Lecture Series on the theme of risk.

Layla has also previously worked as a Research Fellow at the Institute for Criminal Policy Research, King’s College London.

Qualifications

PhD Criminology, University of Cambridge, 2005
MPhil Criminological Research, University of Cambridge, 2001
MA (Hons) Sociology and Psychology, University of Edinburgh, 2000

Research interests

The police custody process
Police and policing
Discretion and its relationship with the law and other rule structures
Civilianisation and outsourcing in the police and other CJ agencies
Police legitimacy
Criminal justice
Virtual courts
Comparative research
Mixed-methods research
The links between police and prison studies

Publications

Books

Welsh L, Skinns L & Sanders A (2021) Sanders & Young's Criminal Justice.
Skinns L (2019) Police Powers and Citizens’ Rights Discretionary Decision-Making in Police Detention. London: Routledge.
Skinns L (2010) Police Custody: Governance, Legitimacy and Reform in the Criminal Justice Process. Oxford: Willan.

Edited books

Skinns L, Scott M & Cox T (Eds.) (2011) Risk. Cambrige: Cambridge University Press.

Journal articles

Loftus B, Bacon M & Skinns L (2022) The moral and emotional world of police informants. The Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles. View this article in WRRO
Ng W & Skinns L (2021) A formal interview tool in an informal setting? An exploratory study of the use of body-worn camera at the scene of an alleged crime. Criminal law review (London, England).
Skinns L, Sorsby A & Rice L (2020) “Treat them as a human being”: dignity in police detention and its implications for ‘good’ police custody. British Journal of Criminology. View this article in WRRO
Bacon M, Shapland J, Skinns L & White A (2020) Fragile alliances: culture, funding and sustainability in police–academic partnerships. Evidence & Policy: A Journal of Research, Debate and Practice. View this article in WRRO
Skinns L & Wooff A (2020) Pain in police detention: A critical point in the ‘penal painscape’?. Policing and Society: an international journal of research and policy. View this article in WRRO
Bacon M, Shapland J & Skinns L (2018) Introduction. European Journal of Policing Studies, 5. View this article in WRRO
Greene A & Skinns L (2018) Different ways of acting and different ways of knowing? The cultures of police-academic partnerships in a multi-site and multi-force study. European Journal of Policing Studies, 5(3), 55-57. View this article in WRRO
Wooff A & Skinns L (2017) The role of emotion, space and place in police custody in England: Towards a geography of police custody. Punishment and Society: the international journal of penology. View this article in WRRO
Skinns L, Rice L, Sprawson A & Wooff A (2017) Police legitimacy in context: an exploration of “soft” power in police custody in England. Policing: an International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 40(3), 601-613. View this article in WRRO
Skinns L, Sprawson A, Sorsby A, Smith R & Wooff A (2017) Police custody delivery in the twenty-first century in England and Wales : current arrangements and their implications for patterns of policing. European Journal of Policing Studies, 4(3), 325-348. View this article in WRRO
Skinns L, Wooff A & Sprawson AF (2017) Preliminary findings on police custody delivery in the twenty-first century: Is it ‘good’ enough?. Policing and Society, 27(4), 358-371. View this article in WRRO
Skinns L (2012) The Role of Law in Policing: The Well-Trodden Path, The Road Less Travelled and The Road Ahead. Journal of Police Studies.
Clayman S & Skinns L (2011) To snitch or not to snitch? An exploratory study of the factors affecting active youth co-operation with the police. Policing and Society: an international journal of research and policy, 1(22), 1-21.
Skinns L (2011) The right to legal advice in the police station: Past, present and future. Criminal Law Review(1), 19-39.
Skinns L (2010) Stop the clock? Predictors of detention without charge in police custody areas. CRIMINOL CRIM JUSTIC, 10(3), 303-320.
Pattenden R & Skinns L (2010) Choice, Privacy and Publicly Funded Legal Advice at Police Stations. MOD LAW REV, 73(3), 349-370.
Skinns L (2009) 'I'm a Detainee; Get Me Out of Here'. BRIT J CRIMINOL, 49(3), 399-417.
Skinns L (2009) 'Let's get it over with': early findings on the factors affecting detainees' access to custodial legal advice. POLIC SOC, 19(1), 58-78.
Skinns L (2008) Community safety: Critical perspectives on policy and practice. BRIT J CRIMINOL, 48(4), 577-U21.
Skinns L (2008) A prominent participant? The role of the state in police partnerships. POLIC SOC, 18(3), 311-321.
Skinns L (2006) Flotilla or armada? Interpreting the practices and politics of three Community Safety Partnerships. Crime Prevention and Community Safety, 8(3), 169-187.
Skinns L () Researching inside police custody in the Anglophone world: ‘Getting in’, ‘getting on’, ‘getting your hands dirty’ and ‘getting out. Criminology and Criminal Justice.
Skinns L, Wooff A & Sprawson A () “My best day will be my last day!”: Appreciating Appreciative Inquiry in police research. Policing and Society.

Chapters

Skinns L (2014) The police in England: an institution in crisis? In Smith M (Ed.), UK Institutions, crisis and response London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Skinns L (2011) Risk In Skinns L, Scott M & Cox T (Ed.), Risk Cambridge Univ Pr
Turnbull P & Skinns L (2010) Drug Interventions Programme: neither success of failure? In Hucklesby A & Wincup E (Ed.), Drug Interventions in Criminal Justice Open University Press
Gelsthorpe L & Skinns L (2006) Restorative practices: repairing harm through kith and kin In Ebtehaj F & Group CS-L (Ed.), Kinship matters Hart Pub
() Introduction to Policing Research Routledge
Skinns L & Bacon MJ () Police and Policing in Cities in England and Wales In Cools S, De Kimpe S, Dormaels A, Easton E, Enhus E & Ponsaers P (Ed.), Police, Policing, Policy and the City in Europe. The Hague: Eleven International Publishing..

Book reviews

Skinns L & Sprawson A (2016) Just Authority? Public Trust and Police Legitimacy. Policing and Society.

Reports

Bacon M, Shapland J, Skinns L & White A (2018) International Strand Summary Report (N8 Policing Research Partnership)
Skinns L (2011) The overnight detention of children in police custody
Skinns L, Du Rose N & Hough M (2009) Final Report: An evaluation of Bristol’s ‘Restorative Approaches in Schools’ programme
Skinns L (2007) Co-operation or contest? Inter-agency relationships in police custody areas
Archer D, Longstaff E & Skinns L (2002) Promising prevention: A review of promising and effective approaches to preventing offending by young people
Gray P & Skinns L (2001) Evaluation of the Camberwell Peer Research Project: Young people’s experience of peer research

Other

Skinns L (2014) Book Review: Inside Police Custody: An Empirical Account of Suspects’ Rights in Four Jurisdictions.. Criminal Law Review.

Research group

Areas of Research Supervision

The police custody process
Police and policing
Discretion and its relationship with the law and other rule structures
Civilianisation and outsourcing in the police and other CJ agencies
Police legitimacy
Criminal justice
Virtual courts
Comparative research
Mixed-methods research
The links between police and prison studies
Multi-agency criminal justice partnerships

Grants

Title/Description: 'Good' police custody: Theorizing the ‘is’ and the ‘ought’

This will be one of the first studies to rigorously examine ‘good’ police custody and to map out changes to police custody arrangements on a national basis.

A key aim of the research is examine how civilianization and privatization, through the contracting out of police custody to the private sector, has impacted on things like police culture(s), power, fairness, justice, emotions and relationships, risk, cost, governance and accountability.

Awarding Body: Economic and Social Research Council
People Involved: Layla Skinns (PI), Angela Sorsby (2016-18), Lindsey Rice (2015), Rivka Smith (2015), Andrew Wooff (2014-15) and Amy Sprawson (2014-15)
Years Funded for: September 2013 - August 2016
Amount: £519,000

Title/Description: ‘Innovation and the application of knowledge for more effective policing’

Co-investigator and co-lead of the international strand, which seeks to examine police-academic partnerships from around the world through a combination of international events, conferences, empirical research and the writing of a report

The N8 Policing Research Partnership
Awarding Body: HEFCE
People Involved: Layla Skinns, Matthew Bacon, Joanna Shapland and Adam White
Years Funded for: May 2015 - April 2020
Amount: £2,999,822

Title/Description: Regional hub for policing research and knowledge exchange

The N8 Policing Research Partnership was awarded £50,000 from the College of Policing for further engaging with police stakeholders, reviewing relevant evidence and engaging in knowledge exchange.

I was one of 14 named collaborators on the bid. I co-led one of eight themes on ‘policing partnerships’ with Dr Bethan Loftus from Manchester University, which entailed organising a workshop and writing a rapid evidence assessment with the support of two doctoral researchers.

Awarding Body: The college of Policing
People Involved: The N8 PRP led by Prof. Adam Crawford (Leeds University). I co-led one of eight themes on ‘policing partnerships’ with Dr Bethan Loftus (Manchester University).
Years Funded for: January 2014-April 2014
Amount: £50,000

Teaching interests

I am committed to a research-led approach to teaching, as I recognise the mutually beneficial relationship between teaching and research.

The modules that I convene and a number of the lectures/seminars I deliver reflect my own research interests and include some of my cutting-edge research on policing. I also invite external speakers, such as policy-makers and practitioners to give guest lectures, so as to enrich students’ experiences and give them an external perspective on their academic studies.

I also offer a student-centred approach to teaching, acting as a personal tutor to students during their time in Sheffield and having a regular feedback and consultation hour to meet with them to discuss academic and personal matters.

Teaching activities

The modules I teach are:

Undergraduate

Police and Policing in a Global Context (Convenor)
The Criminal Process (Convenor)
Skills for Criminologists

Postgraduate & MA

Policing and Society (Convenor)
The Research Process (Convenor)
Qualitative and Quantitative Methods (Convenor)
Doctoral Training in Criminology and Law (Convenor)

Professional activities and memberships

Impact-related work with police organisations:

I led an impact case study for REF 2021, ‘Changing police custody law, policy
and practice’. This drew on research on dignity in police custody for children
and adults has had substantial impact on the law, police policy, practice and
the design of police custodial settings.
I am actively involved in two complementary police-academic partnerships,
the N8 Policing Research Partnership (-2013) and the Sheffield University
Research Group (-2/2014).
Since 2017, I have participated in working groups of the National Custody
Forum including on: (i) police custody performance, which is developing a
national performance monitoring framework; and (ii) training which is
involved in strengthening police custody training nationwide.
In 2017-19, I was an invited expert on the Police Custody Design Guide
Board, Ministry of Justice, which reviewed and revised national standards for
the design of police custody facilities, drawing on academic evidence;
In 2014-15, I sat on two expert reference groups for Her Majesty’s
Inspectorate of Constabularies: (i) The Home Secretary-Commissioned
thematic inspection of the welfare of vulnerable people in police custody; (ii)
The Police Custody Stakeholder Group.

Academic activities

I am on the editorial board for the British Journal of Criminology (-2017) and
the international advisory board for Incarceration (-2019). I am also a regional
editor for the European Journal of Policing Studies (-2/2012) and I am part of
the International Advisory Board for the Journal of Police Studies (-5/2011). I
also regularly review publications for high quality journals, such as Policing
and Society, Criminology and Criminal Justice, as well as for the Home
Office.
I am a member of the UKRI Future Leaders Peer Review College (-5/2021)
and the ESRC College of Peer Reviewers (-7/2012), and of the Faculty of
Social Sciences ESRC Internal Peer Review Panel (-10/2018).
From 2013-2017 I co-ordinated the awarding of prizes by the BSC’s Policing
Network (-9/2013) and I was instrumental in securing prize monies and
awarding prizes for the first time in 2014.
I am also a member of the Sheffield University Researcher Mentoring Scheme
(-2017).
I am a member of the British, European and American Societies of
Criminology and regularly attend conferences convened by these societies.
In 1997, as a first year undergraduate student, I received the Phillip Barry
Prize for Penology from the University of Edinburgh, which was awarded to
the best criminology student of the year.

Recent invited papers and keynote lectures

Vulnerability in police custody and partnership responses: Mapping the contours of a
changing terrain, N8 Policing Research Partnership Innovation Forum, 12-13 May
2021 (online).
Putting recommendations into practice in one police force area: Phase 5 of the ‘good’
police custody study, National Custody Forum, Surrey, 9-11 June 2021.
- Key findings and recommendations from the ‘good’ police custody study,
  Home Office Strategic Custody Meeting, 15 July 2021 (online)
- ‘Seeing the light’: material conditions and detainee dignity inside police
  detention, All Souls Seminar Series, Centre for Criminology, University of
  Oxford, 23 January 2020.
- ‘I am Human’, animation written and directed by Dead Earnest and animated by Scott Spencer and John Brown based on findings from the GPCS, Festival of Social Sciences, November 2020 (subsequently turned into animation in September 2020).
- Pains of Police Detention (with Rebecca Banwell-Moore), podcast as part of the Ideas Alive series, University of Sheffield, October 2020.
- A room with a view? Material conditions and the ‘representational’ inside
  police detention, BSC Wales Branch/CCJL, University of Cardiff, 18
  November 2020 (online).
- Opening Plenary, Seeing the light: designing in dignity inside police detention, BSC Yorkshire and Humber event, University of Sheffield, 30 January 2019
- Invited talk (with Angela Sorsby), Good practice benchmarks: consultation
  and next steps (with Angela Sorsby), National Custody Forum, University of Sheffield, 27 November 2018
- Invited talk (with Angela Sorsby), ‘Seeing the light: findings from the ‘good’ police custody study on why conditions matter, Public engagement event, Festival of Social Sciences, Lifewise Centre, Rotherham, 7 November 2018
- Invited talk (with Andrew Wooff and Angela Sorsby), ‘Seeing the light:
  designing in dignity inside police detention, Police Custody Design Board
  meeting, AECOM, London, 22 October 2018
- Invited talk (with Angela Sorsby), Making a difference to detainees: predictors of detainee perceptions of the quality of treatment, National Custody Forum, University of Sheffield, 14-15 May 2018
- Invited talk (with Angela Sorsby), Making a difference to detainees: predictors of detainee perceptions of the quality of treatment, HMICFRS Planning Day, Birmingham, 9 May 2018
- Invited talk, The pains of police detention: preliminary findings from the
  ‘good’ police custody study, Independent Custody Visitors Association,
  National Conference, London, 24 March 2018
- Invited talk, The ‘pains of police detention’: towards an understanding of the pains of confinement, Centre for Criminal Justice, School of Law, University of Warwick, 12 January 2018
- Invited talk (with Angela Sorsby), Phase 3 of the ‘good’ police custody study: findings update, National Custody Forum hosted by the University of Sheffield, 10-11 October 2017
- Invited talk, The pains of police detention, Staff development day on police custody inspections, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons, London, 25 September 2017
- Invited talk (with Angela Sorsby), Early findings from the ‘good’ police
  custody study Phase 3 survey, National Custody Forum hosted by Warwick University, 16 May 2017
- Invited talk, Making a difference to detainees, Independent Custody Visitors (Eastern Region), Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, 24 January 2017