26 November 2025 – 1pm (UK Time)
Green Crimes, Blue Lights: Exploring the Intersection of Policing and Green Criminology in England and Wales
Speaker – Dr. Alice Weedy, Northumbria University
Policing has consistently been central to criminological inquiry yet its relationship with environmental harm remains underexplored. The doctoral research findings presented in this session bridge green criminology and police studies to examine how wildlife crime is understood, prioritised, and enforced across England and Wales. Drawing on mixed-methods research that combines police observation and survey data, the discussion applies the theories of police occupational culture and techniques of neutralisation to explore how institutional norms, discretion, and speciesism shape police responses to crimes against non-human animals. The research introduces a newly identified technique of neutralisation ‘denial of discretionary powers’ which highlights how officers attribute enforcement gaps to organisational or legislative constraints rather than individual decision-making. By situating policing within broader debates on environmental justice, the discussion invites reflection on what counts as “real” crime, who is recognised as a victim and how anthropocentric frameworks influence operational priorities. In connecting the ‘green’ and the ‘blue’ this work highlights both the challenges and opportunities for embedding environmental protection within contemporary policing practice.