Nawaz Hanif

Nawaz joined BCU in April 2024 from the Institute of Policing at Staffordshire University where he taught the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship program to officers from all Midlands police forces.

Prior to lecturing at Staffs, Nawaz spent almost a decade at West Midlands Police as a specialist Investigator in their Professional Standards Department, investigating police officers and staff for the most serious criminal offences, misconduct and corruption matters.

Before joining WMP, Nawaz was an Investigator at the prestigious legal-action charity REPRIEVE, undertaking capital defence investigations in Pakistan, the Middle East and the US - with many involving gross miscarriages of justice and police corruption. Nawaz also spent time in Islamabad assisting on investigations into illegal CIA drone warfare in the tribal areas of Pakistan.

Nawaz is the son of Mohammed Hanif, a former REPRIEVE client. Mohammed Hanif was unjustly incarcerated in Pakistan between 2006-2010 and faced the death penalty after being framed for a murder of which he was unequivocally innocent. As a teenager on summer holiday in 2006, Nawaz was himself kidnapped by police in Pakistan and held for a time as emotional blackmail to compel his father to hand himself in to corrupt law enforcement authorities. Nawaz was later released and returned to England whilst his father was fully acquitted of the false murder charge at trial in 2010.

At BCU, Nawaz teaches across all levels of Criminology and Professional Policing. He is currently Outreach Co-ordinator for Criminology, Policing and Sociology. This involves facilitating school and college taster days at BCU’s campus as well as arranging for BCU lecturers to visit schools and colleges across the region.