Dr Xavier L'Hoiry (he/him)
Law LLB, MA Criminology, PhD Criminology
Department of Sociological Studies
Senior Lecturer in Criminology and Social Policy
Director of Student Recruitment and Marketing
+44 114 222 6404
Full contact details
Department of Sociological Studies
The Wave
2 Whitham Road
Sheffield
S10 2AH
- Profile
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Xavier joined the Department of Sociological Studies in 2015, having previously worked as a research associate at the University of Leeds and the University of Sheffield. He completed an LLB in Law at Durham University before undertaking an MA in Criminology at the University of Leeds. He subsequently completed a PhD in Criminology at Teesside University. Xavier's doctoral thesis was an ethnographic exploration of illicit entrepreneurship, focusing on tobacco smuggling and policing responses to this phenomenon.
- Research interests
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A central theme of Xavier’s research is working alongside practitioners, with a view towards co-producing research outputs to ensure impact and value for research end-users. Xavier’s research interests lie predominantly in organised crime and illicit markets, but his research activities have encompassed several aspects of police practice.
Since 2015, Xavier has completed a series of research projects which have involved working in collaboration with law enforcement agencies and other actors in the criminal justice system. These projects have included topics such as:
- The feasibility of applying restorative approaches to organised crime offending (Findings).
- Community policing in South Yorkshire (on behalf of South Yorkshire Police).
- Cross-force collaborations in policing (on behalf of North East Transformation, Innovation and Collaboration).
- The deployment of Body-Worn Cameras in Humberside (on behalf of Humberside Police).
- The use of Adult Sexual Services websites to facilitate human trafficking and sexual exploitation (working alongside several police forces in England and Wales).
- The experiences of young magistrates (under 40 years old) in England and Wales.
More recently, Xavier has developed research interests in the activities of Watch Groups, citizen-led groups which carry out surveillance and policing functions in various settings.
Xavier also has an ongoing interest in the experiences of under-researched practitioners in the criminal justice system. His most recent project on this theme explored the experiences of young magistrates in England and Wales.
Xavier is currently engaged in several projects in the fields of policing, organised crime and surveillance (see Grants sections below for further details). He welcomes research-related enquiries in these areas with a view to building greater partnerships with key stakeholders and research end-users and developing future research.
- Publications
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Edited books
- The Unaccountable State of Surveillance: Exercising Access Rights in Europe. Springer International Publishing.
Journal articles
- Embedding critical reflective practice in policing: reflections from a practitioner–academic collaboration in the context of technology-facilitated human trafficking. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 18.
- Corrigendum to: “It’s like I’m Having an Affair”: Cross-Force Police Collaborations as Complex Problems. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 15(3), 2000-2000.
- Exploring the impact of body-worn video on the everyday behaviours of police officers. The Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles.
- ‘It’s like I’m having an affair’: Cross-force police collaborations as complex problems. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice.
- Watch groups, surveillance and doing it for themselves. Surveillance and Society, 17(3/4), 288-304. View this article in WRRO
- An area of untapped potential? The use of restorative justice in the fight against serious and organized crime : a perception study. Criminology & Criminal Justice. View this article in WRRO
- Global organized crime. A 21st century approach (2nd edn). Policing and Society, 28(2), 244-246. View this article in WRRO
- Boundary crossing: networked policing and emergent ‘communities of practice’ in safeguarding children. Policing and Society: an international journal of research and policy, 27(6), 636-654. View this article in WRRO
- The honest data protection officer's guide to enable citizens to exercise their subject access rights: lessons from a ten-country European study. International Data Privacy Law, 5(3), 190-204.
- "Shifting the stuff wasn't any bother": Illicit enterprise, tobacco bootlegging and deconstructing the British government's cigarette smuggling discourse. Trends in Organized Crime, 16(4), 413-434.
- Tobacco smuggling: A review of the literature. European Journal of Crime, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, 20(4), 415-444.
- ‘Empathy pouring out of your bones’: Emotions and emotional labour in courts – The case of young magistrates in England and Wales. Criminology & Criminal Justice.
- Correction: Identifying sex trafficking in adult services websites: an exploratory study with a British police force. Trends in Organized Crime.
- Human trafficking, sexual exploitation and digital technologies. Trends in Organized Crime.
- Body-worn cameras and unintended consequences: A case study of a British police force. The Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles.
- Editorial: Visibilities and New Models of Policing. Surveillance & Society, 17(3/4), 267-271.
- Love Island, social media, and sousveillance : new pathways of challenging realism in reality TV. Frontiers in Sociology, 4. View this article in WRRO
- Identifying Sex Trafficking in Adult Services Websites An Exploratory Study with a British Police Force. Trends in Organized Crime.
Chapters
- Exercising Citizen Rights Under Surveillance Regimes in Europe – Meta-analysis of a Ten Country Study, The Unaccountable State of Surveillance (pp. 405-455). Springer International Publishing
- Conclusion: The Law-in-Books, the Law-in-Action, and the Promise of Regulatory Reform, The Unaccountable State of Surveillance (pp. 479-499). Springer International Publishing
- Exercising Access Rights in the United Kingdom, The Unaccountable State of Surveillance (pp. 359-404). Springer International Publishing
- Introduction – The Right of Access to Personal Data in a Changing European Legislative Framework, The Unaccountable State of Surveillance (pp. 1-8). Springer International Publishing
- Methodological Remarks, The Unaccountable State of Surveillance (pp. 9-20). Springer International Publishing
- Mapping the Legal and Administrative Frameworks of Informational Rights in Europe – A Cross-European Comparative Analysis, The Unaccountable State of Surveillance (pp. 457-478). Springer International Publishing
- Big Data, Surveillance and Crisis Management Routledge
- Cressey, Donald SAGE Publications, Inc.
Reports
- Conceptualising and Evaluating the Impact of Policing Drug Markets
- The Feasibility of Undertaking Restorative Approaches with Serious and Organised Crime Offending
- Partnerships in the Delivery of Policing and Safeguarding Children. An Exploratory Knowledge Platform for Policing: Exploiting Knowledge Assets, Utilising Data and Piloting Research Co-production
- Exercising democratic rights under surveillance regimes
Website content
- The data retention bill means we have no privacy rights at all.
Dictionary/encyclopaedia entries
- Donald Cressey. In Encyclopedia of White-Collar and Corporate Crime SAGE Publications.
- Tobacco Industry SAGE Publications, Inc..
- The Unaccountable State of Surveillance: Exercising Access Rights in Europe. Springer International Publishing.
- Research group
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Xavier is the co-chair of the Sheffield University Policing Research Group (SUPRG). The SUPRG brings together academics and practitioners in ongoing dialogue concerning mutual interests in policing practice and research. If you would like to hear more about SUPRG events or would like to be added to the group’s mailing list, please contact Xavier.
Xavier is a member of the Social Inequalities and Social Ordering research theme in the Department of Sociological Studies. This research theme is concerned with the nature and extent of class, age, place, gender, ethnic, and generation-based inequalities and the ways in which these are managed through formal and informal processes of social ordering.
Xavier is also a member of the European Society of Criminology’s Working Group on Organized Crime and Criminal Network.
Postgraduate Supervision
Xavier currently supervises doctoral theses on care leavers’ experience of Child Criminal Exploitation, and migrants’ experiences of organised crime.
Xavier encourages enquiries for postgraduate supervision in any area of criminology but particularly projects concerning organised crime, illicit entrepreneurship, surveillance and policing.
- Grants
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Title: Awarding body: Dates: Amount: Watch Groups: Citizen-led Policing, Digital Surveillance & Vulnerable Groups (PI)
Leverhulme Trust 2023-2026 £227,418 Understanding criminality in the private rented sector and co-producing solutions (CI) ESRC 2023-2026 £995,493 Conceptualising and evaluating the impact of policing drug markets (CI) N8 Policing Research Partnership 2023-2024 £19,531 Developing a risk assessment tool for human trafficking mediated online (CI) National Police Chief's Council 2022-2023 £59,999 Tackling Commercial Sexual Exploitation Online (PI) ESRC Impact Acceleration Account 2022-2023 £6,745 Evaluation of Prison? Me? No Way! Crime Safety Awareness Days (PI) No Way Trust 2022-2023 £20,000 Courting Young Magistrates (PI) BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grant 2020-2022 £6,682 Tackling the Developing World of Organised Crime Groups in a Multi-Agency Strategy (CI) N8 Policing Research Partnerships Small Grants 2020-2021 £23,902 Identifying Sexual Trafficking Online (PI) N8 Policing Research Partnerships Small Grants 2019-2020 £24,315 Evaluating Body-Worn Video in Humberside Police (CI) N8 Policing Research Partnership Knowledge Exchange 2018-2020 £5,000 Investigating Cross-force Police Collaborations North East Transformation Innovation and Collaboration 2017-2017 £3,000 Restorative Approaches in Serious and Organised Crime N8 Policing Research Partnership Knowledge Exchange 2016-2017
- Teaching interests
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Xavier's approach to teaching focuses and enquiry-based learning and is shaped by his own experiences of academic and non-academic research and teaching.
He seeks to encourage students to engage with materials in critical ways to challenge popular (mis)understandings of criminological issues and enable students to form their own thoughts on key questions in contemporary criminology and social policy.
Xavier’s approach to teaching and learning also seeks to develop key employability skills of students to serve them beyond their undergraduate studies whether in academic or non-academic pursuits. With that in mind, he delivers teaching in a manner which develops teamwork, presentational skills, critical analytical processes and innovative approaches to research.
- Teaching activities
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Xavier currently convenes the following modules:
- SCS3038 Organised Crime and Illicit Markets
- SCS2021 Crime, Justice and Social Policy
- Professional activities and memberships
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- Member of Editorial Board for Trends in Organized Crime.
- Member of Editorial Board for Urban Crime.
- Member of the N8 Policing Research Partnership.
- Co-chair of the Sheffield University Policing Research Group.
- Academic representative of the South Yorkshire Organised Crime Partnership Board.
- Member of the British Society of Criminology.
- Member of the European Society of Criminology.
- Partnerships, engagement and impact
Xavier’s research is inherently collaborative. He has worked with a range of law enforcement practitioners and third sector organisations to ensure that his work delivers impact on policy and practice, particularly at the frontline of policing. Current and recent collaborations include:
Tackling commercial sexual exploitation
Beginning with a pilot study conducted alongside South Yorkshire Police, Xavier has led colleagues in creating a risk assessment and decision support tool to help practitioners identify risks of commercial sexual exploitation taking place online. Several police forces in the UK and a number of law enforcement agencies abroad are currently using this tool in their investigatory practices. Xavier regularly delivers training and presents to practitioners on the use of this tool.
Understanding the experiences of young magistrates
Working alongside the Magistrates Association in England and Wales, Xavier has led a study designed to better understand the experiences of magistrates under 40 years of age. As part of this work, Xavier has made policy and practice recommendations to key stakeholders, designed to improve the experiences of currently serving magistrates as well as increase opportunities for recruitment of young people into the magistracy. These recommendations have been co-produced alongside currently serving young magistrates with the support of the Magistrates Association.
Understanding criminality in the Private Rented Sector
Xavier is currently engaged in a cross-institutional study with universities in York and Newcastle as well as a housing charity based in West Yorkshire. The study seeks to better understand the nature of criminality taking place in the private rented sector as well as the experiences of individuals who have been victimised in this space. The study involves extensive co-production activities with victimised tenants, and planned outputs from the study have a strong policy and practice focus.