Award nod for Dr Kath Murray recognises huge impact of stop-and-search work

The SCCJR’s Dr Kath Murray has been shortlisted for a prestigious Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) prize for her agenda-setting work on police stop-and-search practices.

The Economic and Social Research Council’s Celebrating Impact Prize recognises and rewards researchers whose work has made a real difference to society or the economy.

Kath’s PhD research on stop and search triggered a high-profile and ongoing debate about policing in Scotland following the 2013 merger of eight regional police forces into Police Scotland. Since completing her PhD, Kath has produced a range of reports for the SCCJR and academic journals as well as becoming a regular contributor to the Scottish media.

Her most recent publication, ‘Policing in Cool and Hot Climates: Legitimacy, Power and the Rise and Fall of Mass Stop and Search in Scotland’ (with co-author Diarmid Harkin), argues that a political climate of low scrutiny and minimal political engagement prior to the establishment of Police Scotland hindered the critical interrogation of Scottish policing.

Kath is nominated in the Outstanding Early Career Impact category (in partnership with SAGE Publishing) along with one other researcher: Martin Hearson of the London School of Economics & Political Science, whose research focuses on the politics of international taxation. The award winners will be announced at a ceremony in London on June 22.