Kelvin Chu

Project title

Police Encounters: Perception and experience from People with Mental Illness

Supervisors

• Dr Gethin Rees
• Dr Ruth Graham
• Dr Iain McKinnon (NHS)

About Kelvin

I have a focused interest in criminal justice, healthcare, and cybercriminology. I am the Principal Investigator researching police interactions with people with mental illness in Newcastle, UK.

Apart from studying at Newcastle University, I serve as a police officer with the Toronto Police Service and a part-time artillery officer with the Canadian Armed Forces, where I have been conducting research for the Canadian Forces College.

Project description

This Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Trust-sponsored research is focused on people with mental illness and how they experience and perceive their interactions with the police.

Police officers are often called upon for mental health crises and in recent years, multiple co-responder models of policing have attempted to shift police officers away from responding to mental health crises. However, even with increased efforts to shift these calls for service away from police officers, there is no indication that they will cease interacting with people with mental illness in the foreseeable future.

For that reason, this project aims to understand how people with mental illness experience and perceive their interactions with the police in order to inform and provide insight to stakeholders on how people with mental illness can be better served in future.

Teaching

• SOC1034: Investigating Inequalities and Crime

Academic Qualifications, Organisational Membership and Achievements

Qualifications

• 2023: Postgraduate Certificate in Research Training (Newcastle University)

• 2021: Master of Science, Criminal Justice (Boston University)

• 2016: Bachelor of Arts (Hons.), Double Major Communications, Culture & IT, and Environmental Management (University of Toronto)