Researching deaths after police contact: challenges and solutions

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider the methodological challenges to researching deaths after police contact in England and Wales. It proposes original and innovative solutions to these challenges. Design/methodology/approach – Challenges such as access to data, sensitivity, limited academic literature and bias are considered. Designs to counter these challenges include using documentary data and examining events in one organisation through the prism of an adjacent organisation. Findings – Subjects that are contentious and difficult to access can be researched by searching for a “way into” the key issues by using non-traditional data and an innovative approach. Research limitations/implications – The implications of this paper are that other difficult to research areas of society might be accessed by using the approaches outlined. Practical implications – The practical implications of the research are to highlight the usefulness of documentary data in researching issues relating to police and court proceedings. Social implications – The research has impact because it demonstrates how research might be undertaken into contentious and difficult to research issues that are relevant to society. This may enable the formulation of future policy based on such research. Originality/value – The research is of value because it demonstrates how obstacles to researching difficult to access areas of interest to criminology may be surmounted.