Researching Policing from the Perspective of the Policed: Studying Human Rights from Below

The chapter sets out a critical approach to policing research that aims to enhance a human rights-centred criminology. This approach, based on the principles of critical social research, approaches the study of policing ‘from below’ as a means of exposing injustice. The chapter argues that critical policing research requires us to understand policing, and its impact on human rights, from the perspective of the policed. Taking the UK as its focal point, the chapter argues that such a critical approach is vital if we are to develop research that can both examine the impact of policing on human rights and interrogate the official account of human rights compliance in this field.