Professor Michael Rowe's research interests have tended to focus on accountability and governance in policing, and the changing organisation and delivery of policing in relation to diversity, professionalisation, the application of Evidence Based Policing and the challenges of policing in a digital age. A recent project has explored the changing nature of visible policing in relation to the impact of police buildings, material culture and social media on public perceptions of legitimacy and authority, as well as on police officer and staff professional culture and identity. Other projects have examined innovative police responses to domestic violence, organisational and cultural change in the policing of adult sexual assault investigations and the ethical and governance challenges of using scientific research and AI technology in contemporary policing.  He is currently developing work exploring the policing of Anthropocentric climate change.

He has published widely on these and related matters in the British Journal of Criminology, Policing and Society, Public Management Review, the Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, Criminology and Criminal Justice and many other journals. His books include Policing the Police (Policy Press, 2020) and Accountability in Policing: Contemporary Debates (Routledge, 2015, edited with Stuart Lister) and Introduction to Policing (Sage, 2018, third edition). He is editor of the International Journal of Police Science and Management.