Emma joined the Centre of Excellence for Equity in Uniformed Public Services at Anglia Ruskin University in 2024. Previously Emma was the Academic Director of the Centre for Policing Research and Learning (CPRL) at the Open University.

Emma's career started as a principal researcher at the Metropolitan Police Service where she undertook applied research on issues such as rape and professionalisation. Emma completed a two-year secondment with the Ministry of Justice and following that joined Canterbury Christ Church University where she was responsible for the design of a successful MSc programme for serving police officers and leading the Canterbury Centre for Police Research.

Emma led one of the pillars for Operation Soteria exploring the investigation of rape and serious sexual offending. Emma led the work on officer wellbeing, learning and development. Emma is committed to knowledge mobilization and impact.