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Nikki D’Souza is an Assistant Professor in Criminology, Policing and Sociology within the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, teaching on the PCDA and DHEP programmes (qualifying routes to become a police officer) and the BSc in Professional Policing.  She is the acting Programme Leader for level 6 on the Northumbria Police PCDA.   Nikki is the co-convenor of the North East Policing Research Network (NEPRN) which brings together the local police forces, their PCC offices, NCA and other partners in order to codesign reserach projects which align with policing priorities. Her reserach interests are restorating justice, restorative just cultures, serious and organised crime, victimology and honour-based abuse.

Nikki started her professional career as a probation service officer for Northumbria Probation before qualifying as a probation officer and joining Surrey Probation.  She transferred to Durham to undertake a community-based role as a probation officer and wrote the unique Citizenship Programme which continues to be used today by services.  As a middle manager, she managed the Forensic Psychology Unit from its inception, the Accredited Programmes Team also from its initial development phase and the Unpaid Work Team where she was instrumental in transforming community work as a skill building and employability tool for offenders. 

She joined Durham Constabulary in 2009 and enjoyed a diverse range of roles.  During her time with the police, Nikki worked as intelligence analyst and a youth justice manager (overseeing the work of the police officers and police staff) and in police custody management.   She led the introduction of the Victims Code within the force, developing pioneering ways of implementation which received national attention. Nikki was the programme manager for the Local Criminal Justice Board where she brought together criminal justice partners from across the North East, planning and coordinating a number of cutting-edge multi-agency criminal justice programmes.  Work was nationally recognised and attained a ‘gold star’ status for innovation.  She was also the Chief Constable’s Staff Officer for the Troubled Families portfolio and represented Durham Police at the Early Intervention Foundation programme to develop best practice.

Having completed her PhD (which explored the feasibility of using restorative justice in the context of serious and organised crime) at the University of Sheffield she decided to have a career change and join the Sociology Department at Durham University to teach Criminology before joining Northumbria in September 2021.