People

Dr Katerina Hadjimatheou

Senior Lecturer
Department of Sociology and Criminology
Dr Katerina Hadjimatheou
  • Email

  • Telephone

    +44 (0) 1206 874880

  • Location

    6.343, Colchester Campus

  • Academic support hours

    Autumn term: Tuesdays 11:00-13:00

Profile

Biography

Kat' is an applied ethicist and criminologist. She is interested in technologies and data used for policing, criminal justice and security. She works particularly in the field of domestic abuse, surveillance, criminal records, and human trafficking. Her research has been funded by the British Academy, Home Office, ESRC and European Commission amongst others. Kat is Chair of the British Society of Criminology's Policing Network. She has also been a member of ethics committees for the National Crime Agency, HMRC, and College of Policing. She is a member of the MET Police's Research Ethics Committee and the Chair of Essex Police's Data Ethics Committee. Kat has provided independent consultancy and expertise to the Foreign Office, European Commission, United Nations, US National Science Foundation, Cabinet Office, Ministry of Justice and EU borders agency FRONTEX. She has worked on evaluations of domestic abuse interventions for Islington Council and the College of Policing. Kat also regularly acts an independent ethics reviewer for large technology research projects, mainly for the European Commission. Kat's research has been featured on Woman's Hour, Law in Action, the BBC's 'Bad People' Podcast, BBC Essex and Warwickshire, LBC Radio, and Islam Radio.

Research and professional activities

Research interests

police and tech ethics, digital policing, surveillance, security, criminal records, domestic abuse, vulnerabilities,, and human trafficking

Police and tech ethics, digital policing, surveillance, security, criminal records, domestic abuse, vulnerabilities,, and human trafficking

Key words: police and tech ethics

Domestic abuse

Open to supervise

Current research

An exploratory investigation of the implementation of Stalking Protection Orders in England and Wales

This study explores the use of Stalking Protection Orders (SPOs) in tackling and preventing stalking in England and Wales. The project investigates: what types of stalking are being addressed by SPOs; how SPOs are being used by the police, the CPS and HMCTS; differences in approach among forces, challenges and best practice. This project is one of the first to analyse quantitative data on SPOs from Freedom of Information requests to all police forces in England and Wales, the CPS and HMCTS. In-depth insights into implementation, challenges and best practice are drawn from interviews with practitioners working with stalking including police, stalking charities, NGOs, the CPS and HMCTS.

Conferences and presentations

Ethics of AI in Prisons

Invited presentation, United office of drugs and Crime Congress 2021, UNODC congress, 10/3/2021

Inaugural Nick Fyfe Honorary Lecture. Citizen-Led Digital Policing

Keynote presentation, Scottish Institute for Policing Research, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, 10/12/2019

Surveillance, Trust, and the Presumption of Innocence

Fundamental Rights and Criminal Procedure in the Digital Age’, São Paulo, Brazil, 21/8/2019

Publications

Journal articles (14)

Hadjimatheou, K. and Nathan, C., (2023). Policing the Gaps: Legitimacy, Special Obligations, and Omissions in Law Enforcement. Criminal Law and Philosophy. 17 (2), 407-427

Hadjimatheou, K., (2023). An international review and normative examination of the collateral consequences of criminal record disclosures for domestic abuse. Criminology and Criminal Justice. 23 (4), 648-668

Hadjimatheou, K., (2022). ‘Social care told me I had to’: Empowerment and responsibilisation in the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme. The British Journal of Criminology. 62 (2), 320-336

Hadjimatheou, K., (2022). Using criminal histories to empower victim–survivors of domestic abuse. European Journal of Criminology. 20 (3), 1106-1122

Hadjimatheou, K., (2021). Citizen-led digital policing and democratic norms: The case of self-styled paedophile hunters. Criminology and Criminal Justice. 21 (4), 547-565

Hadjimatheou, K. and Grace, J., (2021). "No black and white answer about how far we can go”: police decision making under the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme. Policing and Society. 31 (7), 834-847

Hadjimatheou, K. and Lynch, J., (2020). UK Anti-Slavery at the Border: Humanitarian Opportunism and the Challenge of Victim Consent to Assistance. European Journal of Criminology. 17 (5), 678-698

Hadjimatheou, K., Coaffee, J. and De Vries, A., (2019). Enhancing Public Security Through the Use of Social Media. European Law Enforcement Research Bulletin. 18, 1-14

Hadjimatheou, K., (2017). Neither Confirm nor Deny: Secrecy and Disclosure in Undercover Policing. Criminal Justice Ethics. 36 (3), 279-296

Hadjimatheou, K. and Lynch, JK., (2017). ‘Once they pass you, They may be gone forever’: Humanitarian Duties and Professional Tensions in Safeguarding and Anti-Trafficking at the Border. British Journal of Criminology. 57 (4), 945-963

Lynch, JK. and Hadjimatheou, K., (2017). Acting in Isolation: Safeguarding and anti-trafficking officers’ evidence and intelligence practices at the border. Anti-Trafficking Review (8), 70-89

Hadjimatheou, K., (2017). Surveillance Technologies, Wrongful Criminalisation, and the Presumption of Innocence. Philosophy & Technology. 30 (1), 39-54

Hadjimatheou, K., (2016). Criminal Labelling, Publicity, and Punishment. Law and Philosophy. 35 (6), 567-593

Hadjimatheou, K., (2014). The Relative Moral Risks of Untargeted and Targeted Surveillance. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice. 17 (2), 187-207

Books (1)

Hadjimatheou, K., Sorell, T. and Guelke, J., (2017). Security Ethics. CRC Press. 1472439430. 9781472439437

Book chapters (2)

Hadjimatheou, K., (2023). Surveillance, Democracy, and Protest in a Time of Climate Crisis. In: The ethics of surveillance in times of emergency. Editors: MacNish, K. and Henschke, A., . Oxford University Press

Hadjimatheou, K. and Nathan, C., (2022). The Ethics of Predictive Policing. In: Oxford Handbook of Digital Ethics. Editors: Veliz, C., . Oxford University Press. 433- 448. 9780198857815

Grants and funding

2024

Domestic Abuse Risk Assessment Tool - Accelerated Capability Environment (ACE) consultancy

Home Office

2023

Do we have a right to know about the criminality of others? A normative criminological analysis

British Academy

Domestic Abuse Risk Assessment Tool - Accelerated Capability Environment (ACE) consultancy

Home Office

2022

Domestic Abuse Services for Young People

London Borough of Islington (Safeguarding and Family Support)

Evaluation of Essex Police's Knife Crime intervention pilot

Essex Police

Evaluation of Essex Police's Knife Crime intervention pilot

Essex Police

2021

Understanding Domestic Abuse Perpetrators' (A mixed methods, Home Office-funded project in collaboration with Essex Police

Home Office

2015

Human Rights and Information Technology in the Era of Big Data

Economic & Social Research Council

Contact

k.hadjimatheou@essex.ac.uk
+44 (0) 1206 874880

Location:

6.343, Colchester Campus

Academic support hours:

Autumn term: Tuesdays 11:00-13:00