Dr Clare N Torrible

Summary

I research policing policy, evidence-based policing, and police accountability and regulation mechanisms. I have extensive legal professional experience as a solicitor at both the Crown Prosecution Service and the former Avon and Somerset Police Authority. This informed my doctoral research which examined the relationship between civil actions against the police and police complaints with a specific focus on police legitimacy. My post-doctoral work spans practical evaluations in support of evidence-based policing, critical analysis of legislative reforms, and socio-legal community-based work demonstrating how accountability mechanisms in relation to police use of excessive force and deployment of taser devices interact to exacerbate institutional racism.

Journal Articles

 “Trust in the police and policing by consent in turbulent times” Torrible C. (2022) C Safer Communities -  https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/SC-08-2021-0036/full/html

"Police complaints and discipline: integrity, lesson learning, independence and accountability: some implications of the reforms under the Policing and Crime Act 2017"  Torrible, C. (2020) Policing and Society, 31(9), pp.1117-1132. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10439463.2020.1838516

"Reconceptualising the police complaints process as a site of contested legitimacy claims." Torrible, C. (2018)  Policing and Society, 28(4), pp.464-479.

"Policing Professionalism and Liability in Negligence" Conaghan, J. and Torrible, C. (2017) Journal of Professional Negligence (33) 22 86-108

Other Publications 

How can black people feel safe and have confidence in policing  - Torrible C., (2022) The Converstaion https://theconversation.com/how-can-black-people-feel-safe-and-have-confidence-in-policing-191521

Why the police in England and Wales must do more than just learn lessons -  Torrible C., (2022) The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/why-the-police-in-england-and-wales-must-do-more-than-just-learn-lessons-179052

Supplementary written Evidence to the Home Affairs Committee on Police Conduct and Complaints. PCO0079  May 2021 https://committees.parliament.uk/work/495/police-conduct-and-complaints/publications/written-evidence/

Written Evidence to the Home Affairs Committee on Police Conduct and Complaints PCOOO54  March 2021 https://committees.parliament.uk/work/495/police-conduct-and-complaints/publications/written-evidence/

PhD Thesis: ‘The Role of Civil Actions in Police Regulation.’

This examines the relationship between police complaints and civil actions against the police, exploring the significant developmental impact each has had on the other and the current practical interplay between the two processes.

Conference Papers 

"Bad Apples, Blame Culture and Institutional Racism: police use of excessive force and the implications of the test for officer miscondcut" Australia and New Zealand Criminology Society Annual Conference. Darwin Australia December 2022  

 “Slipping through cracks: How police accountability mechanisms support institutional racism and fail to counter excessive force - The case of Judah Adunbi” Law and Society Association Annual Conference, Chicago (online) May 2021

"Police Voilence and Police Complaints: Independence Integrity and Individual Justice". Annual Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology Conference, Universtiy of Melbourne, December 2018.

"Caught up in the moment or part of the movement? Revisiting the political and ideological underpinning of Thompson and Hsu" Society of Legal Studies Conference, Univeristy of Bristol  2017.

"Policing Complaints: A collaborative Vision of Civil Actions and Police Complaints Processes in Police Regulation." Law and Society Association Annual Conference, New Orleans, June 2016.

“A Polarised Approach to Police Complaints."  Society of Legal Studies Conference, University of Warwick, September 2015.

Poster

"Civil Actions Against the Police and Police Complaints Processes." Sociaty of Legal Scholars Annual Conference, Univeristy of York, September 2015. 

Biography

Clare graduated from Bristol University in 1995, going on the complete the Legal Practice Course in 1996. She trained in commercial private practice, gaining experience in commercial litigation, banking litigation and non-contentious commercial property work. She also has extensive experience in the public sector having acted as a prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service and as Senior Solicitor at the Avon and Somerset Police Authority. She completed a Masters in Socio-legal Studies at Bristol Univeristy in 2011 and her Doctorate in 2019.