I began my career with Merseyside Police in 1994, gaining extensive experience across a range of policing roles. During the latter part of my policing career, I developed an interest in education, teaching equality and diversity and gaining both a PGCE and an MSc in Occupational Psychology. This experience led to a career transition into higher education in 2008, when I joined a Northern University.

My academic career developed alongside a growing research interest in police culture, occupational identity and police education, culminating in my PhD in 2016. I subsequently became Principal Lecturer for Forensic and Investigative Sciences, with responsibility for the quality and student experience across Forensic, Policing, Fire, Chemistry and Archaeology programmes.

From 2016 to 2018, I served as  Head of Forensic and Applied Sciences, during this period, the school was voted the best at the university by students, for two consecutive years.

Between 2018 and 2020, I was Business and Partnership Lead for the School of Forensic and Applied Sciences. Drawing on my expertise in police culture, education and the changing landscape of policing, particularly the Police Education Qualifications Framework (PEQF), I successfully developed and secured major tender opportunities with Cumbria and Lancashire Police. I also led business development activity in Security and Emergency Planning.

In 2020, I returned to Liverpool to become Head of the Liverpool Centre for Advanced Policing Studies (LCAPS). In this role, I have developed new policing programmes, secured major tender opportunities in areas including diversity in firearms, policing education and Police Now, and established a Police Research Hub designed to support education, research and knowledge exchange within policing nationally and internationally. My current research expertise is police well being and leadership, having worked closely with Oscar Kilo for the last 5 years.

Alongside my academic and leadership roles, I have served as a Governor at Hugh Baird College and contributed to national initiatives supporting women into senior leadership positions in higher education, including the Aurora Project and Future Proof. I am also an online assessor for the College of Policing, a trauma counsellor, and regularly contribute to College of Policing discussions and initiatives supporting the development of police education.

Across my career, I have combined frontline policing experience with academic leadership, research, education and partnership development. My work continues to focus on strengthening the relationship between policing, higher education and research, with a particular interest in police well being, police culture, professional education, leadership, equality and the future development of the policing profession.