Author Description

This comprehensive core text provides an overview of law enforcement topics, integrating major empirical findings and theory-based research findings in the field with a thorough analysis of contemporary policing problems. The issues-oriented discussion focuses on critical concerns facing American police, including personnel systems, organization and management, operations, discretion, use of force, culture and behavior, ethics and deviance, civil liability, and police-community relations. A critical assessment of police history and the role politics played in the development of American police institutions is offered, and greater discussion of future and technology issues in policing is presented, and new material has been added on homeland security. Contemporary news articles are incorporated throughout the text to further illustrate the policing perspectives highlighted, and current data from dozens of studies in policing are included.