Menu Close

Dr. Heather Panter is a retired police detective with over 2,000 hours of police specific training and a combined 13 years of American law enforcement experience with local and federal police agencies. Her current research involves the comparative cross-examination of police culture within the United States and the United Kingdom in respect to officers’ cognitive and social perceptions of LGBT+ identities. A portion of her current research focuses on gender theories, psychological conflict theories, police culture theories, and the issues surrounding social acceptance of those in stigmatized minority groups within policing.

Her previous research focused on the usage and application of WBI (Whole Body Imaging) at airports as a counter-terrorism tool. More specifically, the issues that surround the detection of energetic materials (i.e. bombs) when using WBI technologies. During the course of this research she examined the legal and privacy issues versus the efficiency of detecting energetic materials that WBI imaging presents to airline travellers.

She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, USA. She also has a Master of Science in Criminal Justice with a specialization in Forensic Science from Saint Leo University, USA. She recently was awarded a PhD at Cardiff University in criminology. Her research interests include: police investigations, post-blast investigations, crime-scene investigations, counter-terrorism technologies, criminal justice, LGBT+ criminology, subculture dynamics, occupational cultures, gender and police culture.

She is a passionate teacher who draws upon her previous police experience to create an innovative pedagogic environment which enables students to both grasp and apply complex criminological ideas. Additionally, she has served as a consultant for police fictional novels, police television shows, and news agencies.

Experience

  • –present
    Senior Lecturer in Policing, Liverpool John Moores University