ABSTRACT
From Miami Vice to Law & Order: SVU to Criminal Minds, the public continues to display a fascination with special unit policing, partly due to the often titillatingly lurid nature of the subject matter, and partly because such stories combine the features of vicarious danger and ultimate triumph (we hope) of good over evil. Of course, these portrayals typically overlook the plodding hard work that underlies most successful special unit operations, and obscures many of the psychological variables that can influence this kind of police work. As distinct from daily patrol, these special investigatory operations are typically carried out by trained detectives within a department or division of a law enforcement agency. This chapter will describe the role of psychological factors and services in three specialized area of policing: hostage negotiation, undercover operations, and criminal investigation.
