Craig Weir

Craig Weir is a Police Sergeant with Norfolk Constabulary and a PhD researcher in Social and Political Science at the University of Chester.

His doctoral research, The Thin Blue Line Reconfigured, is an ethnographic study examining how political reform, austerity, and workforce transformation since 2010 have reshaped frontline response policing across England and Wales. Focusing on the lived experiences of response officers, his work explores the erosion of operational expertise, the impact on officer wellbeing and discretionary decision‑making, and the wider implications for public trust and procedural justice.

Craig has served in both uniform and detective roles, leading frontline teams, managing critical incidents, and overseeing investigations involving vulnerability, high‑risk harm, and complex criminality. He is a trained Critical Incident Commander with a previous background in the prison service.

Alongside operational experience, Craig brings an academic background, graduating with First‑Class Honours from the University of East London. His current research draws on street‑level bureaucracy, tacit knowledge, and legitimacy theory to analyse how experience is developed, lost, and re‑negotiated within contemporary response policing.

Craig’s work aims to bridge the gap between academic insight and operational practice, contributing evidence‑based recommendations on recruitment, retention, training, and officer wellbeing. His research seeks to inform a more resilient, experienced, and trusted response policing model capable of meeting the complex demands of modern policing.

Craig is originally from Northern Ireland and has an interest in photography outside of work.