Police Field Operations: Theory Meets Practice

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.

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. Unfortunately, the society has not been very active in recent years.

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

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