ABSTRACT
This book is about police psychology—where it has been and where it is going as the public safety arena is enveloped by change. One hundred thousand new police officers are one manifestation of that change, as are factors such as violence initiatives, the health-justice interface, and the trend to community policing that may reinvent public safety. New laws and a technology-based society join forces with these factors to force an examination of the application of psychology we know as police psychology. Remarkably successful in a relatively short period of time, police psychology and its core technologies require timely examination to continue successful practice and to preclude being overtaken by events. This book provides that examination. Written by experienced police psychologists and police practitioners, the chapters describe the core technologies of police psychology and explore the issues faced by police psychologists and the departments they serve in implementing these technologies. This exploration confronts the problems that psychologists face as they apply concepts from psychology in the real-world settings of police and public safety agencies and it addresses frameworks for the future. Finally, the chapters in this volume shape an agenda for police psychology in the 21st century.
