Out of Place in Blue Space: Noticing as a Stopping Technology and the Limits of Stop and Search Reform

Wilson, Conor, Clayton, Estelle and Rowe, Mike ORCID: 0000-0002-2978-5222 (2025) Out of Place in Blue Space: Noticing as a Stopping Technology and the Limits of Stop and Search Reform BRITISH JOURNAL OF CRIMINOLOGY. azaf087-. ISSN 0007-0955, 1464-3529

Text BJC V2 Final.docx - Author Accepted Manuscript Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (91kB)

Abstract

Abstract This paper introduces the concept of ‘blue space’ as a theoretical framework for (re)defining the boundaries of police stops. Reflecting on ethnographic research with police officers in Scotland and England, we draw on Ahmed’s concept of ‘white space’ to understand police encounters with the public in ‘blue space’. We argue that police presence in ‘blue space’ acts as a stopping technology, which renders certain bodies as noticeable and out of place, orientating how bodies ‘take up’ space. Being attuned to a subtle economy of bodily movements—looks, glances or even the presence of police officers—can shape how bodies inhabit space. We explore how officers tacitly leverage their presence to ‘stop’ certain bodies in ways not captured by focusing on recorded police stops. In doing so, we consider how blue space challenges a reform landscape that focuses predominately on formal, recorded police stops.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	police stops, procedural justice, stop and search, ethnography, policing
Divisions:	Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences > School of Management
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	06 Oct 2025 08:16
Last Modified:	16 Jun 2026 20:05
DOI:	10.1093/bjc/azaf087
Related Websites:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3194710
Disclaimer:	The University of Liverpool is not responsible for content contained on other websites from links within repository metadata. Please contact us if you notice anything that appears incorrect or inappropriate.