This textbook investigates how psychological research can be applied to practical policing. It explores new ways psychological knowledge can be used in broad areas of policing and uniquely demonstrates its use in specific aspects of practical policing. Encouraging critical reflection, this book is essential reading for practitioners and students.

This book it is a comprehensive guide, aimed at professionals, that starts with the interview of the victim of the crime, moving through the interviewing of suspects, to the decision to prosecute and enhancing the quality of evidence presented in court. Other topics discussed include: false allegations, false confessions, offender profiling and victim support. Throughout, the theme of the book is that the chain of events leading to the successful investigation and prosecution of offences is only as strong as the weakest link, and should be considered as a coherent whole.

Go behind the scenes of police work with this unique book that opens the door to the psychological side of policing. Police Psychology: A New Specialty and New Challenges for Men and Women in Blue offers readers the opportunity to examine two different aspects of police psychology: psychology as it pertains to the personality of police officers and the application of psychology in police practices. The book takes readers inside the lives of real officers struggling with the daily quest to remain mentally healthy in the face of often-gruesome crime scenes. The actual experience of police work is illustrated through case studies and vignettes, and the text offers a template of best practices for those who practice police psychology. Other insights in this book reveal the practical side of policing, examining the use of psychology in hostage negotiation, interview and interrogation, threat assessment, and criminal profiling. Readers go behind the scenes to watch as police apply psychological principles in actual cases, and then are given the opportunity to match wits with a simulated foe themselves.

The Psychology of Police Deadly Force Encounters: Science, Practice, and Police is a fascinating look into the reality of police work. The author integrates noted theories into a “street-wise” understanding of being a police officer. The focus of this book is on the use of deadly force by officers—a topic of considerable importance. The author discusses the psychosocial aspects of deadly force use, stemming from the individual officer, the situation, organizational influences, and the police culture. Expanding further into social issues, the controversial topic of race and use of deadly force is discussed. This depiction looks at both sides—that of racial victimization and that of the police—which helps to provide a rather unique perspective on this important issue. Of interest, the author breaks down the different dimensions of cognition as a factor in decision making among police, including the perception of the situation, the action taken depending on that perception, and the role of present and past memory. This will make for a useful training topic to alert officers to the cognitive processes that go into deadly force use—processes that they have the control to change to make a better decision. Next, the book delves into the biological factors that may be involved in police decision making—again where deadly force is involved. The various negative psychological impacts that a deadly force situation may bring about are identified and explained. This book will be useful as a tool for both law enforcement practitioners and researchers to better understand the intricacies of deadly force by the police. For researchers, the book has a multitude of references available for further exploration. It will prove to be a useful guide and reference volume for police managers and supervisors, mental health clinicians, investigators, attorneys, judges, law enforcement educators and trainers, rank and file police officers, including expert witnesses.

Reflections of a Police Psychologist is an account of the experiences, thoughts, and observations of a seasoned police veteran. It is written for police officers and those who would like a glimpse into the world of policing from the perspective of a former police officer and current police psychologist. Dr. Digliani discusses the major challenges facing those first entering police work. He addresses police field training and identifies the ten police field training pitfalls. The PATROL program, developed to assist new officers, is outlined. It involves an orientation and phase meetings between new officers and the staff psychologist to support them throughout field training. Dr. Digliani discusses how stress management becomes life management within the concepts of life-by-design and life-by-default. Inside the parameters of life management, a list of Some Things to Remember functions as an instrument for transactional change. The issues related to traumatic stress and exposure are discussed. The insights presented originate out of years of treating officers exposed to traumatic events. The role of police peer support teams is examined. Models for a peer support team policy and operational guidelines are presented. There is also information relating to the confidentiality of peer support interactions, a topic of current controversy. Traumatic incident debriefings and their applications in policing are elucidated, along with phase and freeze-frame models of debriefing. Included is a discussion of the current efficacy research pertinent to traumatic incident debriefings. Police family issues and the Foundation Building Blocks of Functional Relationships are outlined. Various family patterns of interaction are identified, including information for families of traumatized officers. There is a discussion of coping with death and loss, a critical area for police officers. An exposition of mental illness and interacting with the mentally ill from a police perspective is presented. Toward the end of the book, the retirement transition is discussed. In retirement or separation from service, officers return to the civilian world. Some experience difficulty with this transition. Issues to consider before retirement are presented. The final chapter includes the general reflections and policing history of Dr. Digliani. These reflections include the insights that come only with years of policing experience in several police assignments, including that of staff psychologist. This is an excellent book for anyone interested in law enforcement, policing, and police psychology.

The police fight a different kind of war, and the enemy is the police officer's own civilian population: those who engage in crime, social indignity, and inhumane treatment of others. The result for the police officer is both physical and psychological battering, occasionally culminating in the officer sacrificing his or her life to protect others. This book focuses on the psychological impact of police civilian combat. During a police career, the men and women of police agencies are exposed to distressing events that go far beyond the experience of the ordinary citizen, and there is an increased need today to help police officers deal with these traumatic experiences. As police work becomes increasingly complex, this need will grow. Mental health and other professionals need to be made aware of the conditions and precipitants of trauma stress among the police. The goal of this book is to provide that important information. The book's perspective is based on the idea that trauma stress is a product of complex interaction of person, place, situation, support mechanisms, and interventions. To effectively communicate this to the reader, new conceptual and methodological considerations, essays on special groups in policing, and innovative ideas on recovery and treatment of trauma are presented. This information can be used to prevent or minimize trauma stress and to help in establishing improved support and therapeutic measures for police officers. Contributions in the book are from professionals who work with police officers, and in some cases those who are or have been police officers, to provide the reader with different perspectives. Chapters are grouped into three sections: conceptual and methodological issues, special police groups, and recovery and treatment. The book concludes with a discussion of issues and identifies future directions for conceptualization, assessment, intervention, and effective treatment of psychological trauma in policing.