Dr Rick Muir is Director of the Police Foundation, the UK’s independent policing think tank. He has led the Foundation since 2015 and oversaw its work on the Strategic Review of Policing in England and Wales. He was previously Associate Director at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), leading the Institute’s research on public services, including policing and criminal justice. He has a D Phil in Politics from the University of Oxford. He is currently a Visiting Professor at Northumbria University and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA). He was previously a local councillor in both Oxford and Hackney.

Ruth Halkon is a researcher at the Police Foundation. She joins the Foundation from the Metropolitan Police where she served for three years as a police constable in Haringey in North London. As a Dedicated Ward Officer she used evidence-based policing to tackle homelessness, drug dealing and antisocial behaviour in a challenging ward. She subsequently worked as a staff officer to the Safeguarding lead for North Area before moving to the missing persons unit.

Prior to joining the police she worked as a journalist for local, regional and national newspapers and news agencies, where she developed a special interest in criminal justice and policing. In 2017 she was seconded to the Police Foundation where she contributed to The future of neighbourhood policing report. She has a BA in English Literature from the University of Cambridge and an MA in Newspaper Journalism from City University.