Interpreting the invisible: The digital evidence challenge

Megan O’Neill is a Professor of Criminology at the University of Dundee. Her work focuses on aspects of police culture, stop and search, community policing, public sector pluralisation in policing, technology in policing and surveillance practices of the state. She has published in several journals, including The European Journal of Criminology, The British Journal of Criminology, Criminology and Criminal Justice, Policing and Society and Policing: A journal of policy and practice. She has published two monographs: Policing Football (2005) and Police Community Support Officers (2019). She is the Scientific Lead for the EU-funded project, Clarus. Prof O’Neill’s work is largely qualitative, with a particular focus on ethnography, and blends theoretically informed research with applications for developing policing practice.

Amy Long is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow and doctoral graduate at the University of Dundee. Her work sits across both Psychology and Human Geography, with a particular focus on policing practice, vulnerability, and the role of technology in policing systems. Her PhD thesis drew on ethnographic fieldwork to explore how police perceive success when a person is reported missing. Amy has to-date researched on several trans-national policing projects, including ‘Eyes Online’ which examined accountability and legitimacy of online surveillance by the state, and the follow-up impact and dissemination project ‘Embedding Ethics by Design in the Policing of Digital Futures in Scotland’. Amy undertakes all UK data collection for Clarus and is lead author for the cross-national report on practitioner perceptions of digital evidence systems.

Ailsa Mackintosh is an Online Learning Developer at the Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science at the University of Dundee. Her work focuses on making complex research accessible and engaging for a wide range of audiences through online learning, public engagement, and creative communication approaches.

As part of the EU-funded Clarus project, Ailsa leads the development of a public-facing Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) exploring digital evidence, communication, and bias in forensic and investigative contexts. She also coordinates the project’s international Citizen Juries, working with members of the public across multiple countries to explore complex questions around digital evidence and justice.