Police Field Operations

Description

Hallmark features of this title

Links between theory and practice

• Action boxes in each chapter provide excerpts from documents, real-life examples, and readings on policing to illustrate the real-world applications of the content.
• Voice of Experience boxes in each chapter present interviews with current and former police officers, offering professional insights into the topics at hand.
• Conclusions on Policing section presents opinions from researchers on the state of policing today.

Real-world applications

• Down-to-earth examples are used generously to bring topics to life.
• A summary checklist for handling prisoners gives students a tool they can take into the field.

New and updated features of this title

Issues affecting police officers

• NEW: Two new chapters have been added, one on becoming a police officer and police careers, and a second on traffic functions of policing.
• UPDATED: The most up-to-date theories, procedures and practices are reflected in content updates throughout all chapters.
• EXPANDED: Discussion of officer stress has been extended to address modern considerations.

Law enforcement principles and challenges

• NEW: General organizing principles of law enforcement agencies are discussed in this edition.
• EXPANDED: Discussion of evolving issues in police operations reflect the most up-to-date developments. This includes a new discussion of the President’s Task Force Report on 21st-century policing.
• NEW: New coverage of police response to mass shootings reflects incidents playing out today.

For courses in police operations and patrol.

A practical look at police field operations
Comprehensive and readable, Police Field Operations: Theory Meets Practice addresses the theory and practical applications of police practices, drawing on the personal accounts of current and former police officers. The text covers all major areas of police field operations, including patrolling, investigations, crime mapping, community policing, hot pursuit issues, communications, gangs, and drugs. With chapters that work consecutively or as independent units, the 3rd edition has been extensively updated with two new chapters and with coverage reflecting the challenges confronting police officers today.

About our authors

Michael Birzer is a professor of criminal justice at Wichita State University. He was director of the School of Criminal Justice for 10 years, while specializing in police operations, police organization, evidence-based police practices and qualitative research design. He regularly consults police agencies on a wide variety of operational and organizational issues. Recently, he was the recipient of the Wichita State University President’s Venture award for his proposal to bring the Wichita/Sedgwick County Law Enforcement Training Center to campus. The new state-of-the-art training center, now located on campus, provides students with many applied learning opportunities. Prior to Birzer’s entry into academia, he served in policing for over 18 years, retiring at the rank of lieutenant. He earned his doctorate from Oklahoma State University, where his research focused on police training and education. Birzer believes while it is important for students to have an in-depth understanding of police research and theory, it is equally important for them to know how research and theory inform fundamental police practice.

Cliff Roberson LLM, PhD, is an emeritus professor of criminal justice at Washburn University, Topeka, Kansas, and a retired professor of criminology at California State University, Fresno, California. He has authored or coauthored numerous books and texts on legal subjects and victims’ issues. His previous academic positions include Associate Vice-President for Academic Affairs, Arkansas Tech University; Dean of Arts and Sciences, University of Houston, Victoria; Director of Programs, National College of District Attorneys; Professor of Criminology and Director of Justice Center, California State University, Fresno; and Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, St. Edward’s University. Dr. Roberson’s non-academic experience includes U.S. Marine Corps service as an infantry officer, trial and defense counsel and military judge as a marine judge advocate; and Director of the Military Law Branch, U.S. Marine Corps. Other legal employment experiences include Trial Supervisor, Office of State Counsel for Offenders, Texas Board of Criminal Justice and judge pro-tem in the California courts. His first involvement with victims issues came in 1981 when the State Bar of Texas appointed a committee on victims issues. He was fortunate to be appointed to that committee. In 1984, as director of the Justice Center, California State University, Fresno, he authorized funds to hold a training course on victims services. Years later, as a faculty member at Washburn University, he attended a conference in Kansas City on victims services. It was at this conference that the American Society of Victimology was founded and he joined as a life member.

1. The Police Career
2. Police Patrol: The Backbone of Policing
3. Police Field Procedures
4. Police Operations in a Community Policing Environment
5. The Crime Scene and Preliminary Investigation
6. Interviewing and Interrogation
7. Handling Calls for Service
8. Police Traffic Functions
9. Ethics and Police Misconduct
10. Police Reports and Communication
11. Gangs and Drugs
12. Police Operations in Culturally Diverse Communities
13. Crime Mapping and Analysis
14. Handling Terrorism and Natural Disasters
15. Legal Constraints on Police Operations

For courses in police operations and patrol.

A practical look at police field operations
Comprehensive and readable, Police Field Operations: Theory Meets Practice addresses the theory and practical applications of police practices, drawing on the personal accounts of current and former police officers. The text covers all major areas of police field operations, including patrolling, investigations, crime mapping, community policing, hot pursuit issues, communications, gangs, and drugs. With chapters that work consecutively or as independent units, the 3rd edition has been extensively updated with two new chapters and with coverage reflecting the challenges confronting police officers today.