Dr Barry Blackburn

I have worked at CCCU for ten years, working in the Forensic Investigation and Applied Criminology teams. I am currently the head of level 4 for Applied Criminology. I am the module leader for Transnational Crime and Global Markets (Level 4), Media, Crime and Justice (Level 5) and Crime, Deviance and Popular Culture (Level 6) and teach on a number of undergraduate modules at all levels.

I worked for a decade in various parts of the criminal justice system with a particular focus on community penalties and drug rehabilitation. As part of these roles I worked with prolific offenders in the community, working as part of multi-agency groups.

My research largely focusses on policing, with research carried out for the Metropolitan Police Service on firearms licencing and predictive policing. My PhD research was into the provision of drug treatment in the community, looking specifically at the impact of the 2010 National Drug Strategy and the process of recovery within the community. I am currently researching awareness of hate symbols in the tattoo industry, as well as historic metal theft. I have been a contributing author for Blackstones handbook for Student Police Officers since 2016.

I am the head of level 4 for Applied Criminology and I am an external examiner for the University of Portsmouth.

I currently teach Transnational Crime and Global Markets (Level 4), Media, Crime and Justice (Level 5) and Crime, Deviance and Popular Culture (Level 6) as module leader and also teach on a number of other modules for the Applied Criminology team.

I have previously taught on the Forensic Investigation and Policing courses within the university. 

My research interests are varied, with areas such as drug treatment, predictive policing, firearms licencing and reviews of local criminal activity amongst the areas I have researched previously.

I am currently involved in research looking into extremist tattoos and their meanings, the Blue Lives Matter movement and theft of heritage metals.