An inaugural lecture is a momentous occasion, honouring the promotion of our esteemed colleagues to professorship and marking a significant milestone in their academic journey.
Our most recent inaugural lecture, delivered by Professor Jyoti Belur (UCL Security and Crime Science), is now available to be viewed online.
The lecture, titled ‘From Uniform to University: A Journey Towards Evidence, Ethics, and Equity in Policing’, reflects on Professor Belur’s journey from serving as a Senior Police Officer in India to becoming a Professor of Policing in the UK. Shaped by early experiences of frontline decision‑making, institutional power, and ethical dilemmas, her career has been driven by a desire to understand how policing can be made fairer, more effective, evidence based and accountable. In the lecture, she traces how lived experience informed her academic transition; her research on police misconduct, police training, gender‑based violence and evidence‑based policing; and her commitment to bridging theory and practice.
The lecture explores how personal experience, critical inquiry, and collaboration can together transform policing policy, education, and practice across diverse global contexts.
Professor Jyoti Belur qualified in Economics at the University of Mumbai where she worked as a lecturer before joining the Indian Police Service and serving as a Senior Police Officer in the North of India. She has a Masters in Police Management from Osmania University, a Masters in Human Rights from the University of Essex, and a PhD from the London School of Economics. Now a Professor in Policing at UCL’s Department of Security and Crime Science, Professor Belur is the Programme Convenor for the MSc in Policing. She has undertaken research for the UK Home Office, College of Policing, ESRC, the Leverhulme Trust, the Government of India, and the Metropolitan Police Service. She is a member of the Academic Board of HMICFRS and MOPAC’s London Policing Ethics Panel. Professor Belur has numerous published works, including peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, a monograph, and is currently co-editing two International Handbooks on Women’s Lived Experiences as Qualitative Researchers.
Watch the video below.
