Barry Blackburn

Dr Barry Blackburn

Senior Lecturer in Criminal Justice Studies

School of Business, Law & Policing

I joined CCCU in 2013 and I am a senior lecturer with the Applied Criminology team.

I have worked at CCCU full time since 2013, working in the Forensic Investigation and Applied Criminology teams. I currently teach at all levels across the Applied Criminology course and I am the module leader for the level 4 module "Introduction to Criminology and Forensic Investigation". I also teach on the university-wide success and interdisciplinary modules. 

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. 

Research Projects

  • Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour in Faversham (2021-22). Researcher(s): Dr Barry Blackburn, Professor Robin Bryant, Ms Hannah Lewis, Mr John Hills. [Project]
  • Evaluation of the MPS Predictive Policing Trial (redacted). Researcher(s): Professor Robin Bryant, Dr Hannan Azhar, Dr Barry Blackburn, M. Falade. [Project report]
  • Historic England Metal Theft. Researcher(s): Dr Barry Blackburn, Professor Robin Bryant, Ms Hannah Lewis, Mr Kevin Lawton-Barrett. [Project]
  • Neighbourhood policing in the Metropolitan Police Service – 8 April 2022. Researcher(s): Professor Robin Bryant, Dr Barry Blackburn, Dr Roger Arditti, Ms Hannah Lewis. [Project report]

Research Supervisor

  • “WE’VE GOTTA TEACH THE NATION WAGWAN” A CRITICAL APPROACH TO THE CRIMINALISATION AND CENSORSHIP OF UK DRILL MUSIC.. Researcher(s): Miss Isobel Ingram. Supervisor(s): Dr Barry Blackburn, Professor Shane Blackman. [Postgraduate Research Project]
  • Corporate social responsibility and Community Engagement: Exploring Business-Community Relations in Canterbury. Researcher(s): Ms Amina Hebouche. Supervisor(s): Dr Claire Street, Dr Barry Blackburn, Dr Jennifer Dvorak. [Postgraduate Research Project]
  • Courting Controversy: A Cultural Criminological Investigation into the Alleged Relationship Between Drill Music and Criminality, and its Use as Evidence in Securing Convictions. Researcher(s): Miss Isobel Ingram. Supervisor(s): Dr Barry Blackburn, Professor Shane Blackman, Professor David Bates. [Postgraduate Research Project]
People search

Contact me

barry.blackburn@canterbury.ac.uk
01227923097
The Priory (PRf06), Canterbury

Based in

School of Business, Law, and Policing