Biography
I am a lecturer in crime science at the Jill Dando Institute of Security and Crime Science at University College London (UCL). I am interested in crime analysis – particularly how crime concentrates in time and space – in crime prevention and in transport crime.
Interests
- How crime concentrates in time and space
- Crime analysis
- How police can prevent crime
- Crime on public transport
Education
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PhD in Crime Science, 2016
University College London
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MRes in Security Science, 2012
University College London
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MSc in Crime Science, 2011
University College London
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BA (Hons) in Politics with International Studies, 2003
University of Warwick
Recent Posts
Tutorial: Calculating disparities in stop and search
I recently published a report on how stop and search is used in London. Although the report contained lots of information, it was probably inevitable that people would focus on the figures for disparities in stop and search rates between ethnic groups.
Tutorial: How to stop hiding your research
This post first appeared on the #CrimComm Blog
You’re a criminal-justice researcher and you’ve just published an article in a top journal. It was a lot of work: you spent months securing ethical approval, collecting data or negotiating access to secondary data, completing the analysis, writing up the results and responding to reviews.
Why you can't identify changes in crime by comparing this month to last month
This post first appeared on the Social Research Association blog.
Understanding if some event is associated with a change in the frequency of crime is a common question, both in practice and in research.
Chart: In serious cases, justice is often slow
Some serious crime investigations are surprisingly quick: half of murder prosecutions involve a suspect being charged in five days or fewer. But for many serious crimes, justice is often slow: half of fraud prosecutions don’t conclude until almost two years after the crime occurred.
Chart: Some police forces are much more likely to prosecute violence
Once police have enough evidence to prosecute an offender, they or prosecutors must decide whether to send the case to court or deal with it informally. For violent crimes, the likelihood of a case going to court varies substantially across police forces, with some prosecuting over 80% of cases and others diverting two thirds to other resolutions such as paying compensation.
Recent & Upcoming Talks
Changes in police calls for service during the early months of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic
Presentation on changes in calls for service during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, based on my paper Changes in Police Calls for Service During the Early Months of the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic.
Recent Publications
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Stop and Search in London: July to September 2020
This report summarises how police in London use their stop-and-search powers. In the period from July to September 2020, police stopped …
The open-access availability of criminological research to practitioners and policy makers
Criminology produces policy-relevant research and criminologists often seek to influence practice, but most criminological research is …
Changes in Police Calls for Service During the Early Months of the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic
The coronavirus pandemic poses multiple challenges for policing, including the need to continue responding to calls from the public. …
Initial evidence on the relationship between the coronavirus pandemic and crime in the United States
The COVID-19 pandemic led to substantial changes in the daily activities of millions of Americans, with many businesses and schools …
Contact
- matthew.ashby@ucl.ac.uk
- +44 (0) 20 3108 3890
- 35 Tavistock Square, London, WC1H 9EZ
- Book an appointment
- Contact me on Twitter