Care in Custody: From police matrons to forensics
18 Jun 2025, 18:00 - 19:30
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An online talk on the history of women in the police service and the role of nursing in forensics.
The first women to work in police custody services included so-called ‘police matrons’. While not all trained nurses, it indicates the complexity of healthcare work in police settings. Indeed, Edith Smith and Emily Miller, the first policewomen to be appointed in England and Scotland, respectively, in 1915, were both trained nurses.
In this online talk, Louise Jackson outlines the history of these nurses (and others) in the police service, while Gethin Rees explains the recent development of a nursing role in forensics and Karen Swinson explores the introduction of custody nursing from 1999.
Speakers
Professor Louise A. Jackson is Professor of Modern Social History at the University of Edinburgh. She is the author or co-author of five books, including Women Police: Gender, Welfare and Surveillance in the Twentieth Century (Manchester University Press, 2006) and Police and Community in Twentieth Century Scotland (Edinburgh University Press, 2020).
Dr Gethin Rees is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Newcastle University. He has over twenty years of experience analysing forensic medicine, including the work of doctors and nurses performing the forensic intervention in sexual offence cases; the use of sleep medicine in criminal cases; and the work of Healthcare Professionals in police custody suites. From September 2025 Dr Rees will be a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellow preparing a monograph bringing together his various projects in order to develop a sociologically informed analysis of forensic medicine in general.
Karen Swinson's professional nursing career has spanned both the NHS and Criminal Justice settings in extensive leadership roles. Karen led the inaugural service of healthcare in police custody being provided by nurses. Working with multiple organisations, she changed legislation and developed national guidance to support subsequent changes in criminal justice healthcare. As a result, she extended the boundaries of custody nursing and created a safer environment for both staff and patients, recognised with a Beacon Award as unique within the UK and still accepted nationally as best practice today.
Image: Custody nurse © Charles Milligan
This event is open to all and takes place online only.
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Page last updated - 13/06/2025
