Practical Police Psychology addresses the psychologically complex world of modern policing. It analyzes the unusual crises and everyday challenges faced by all law enforcement personnel, from the street cop to the departmental brass. But Practical Police Psychology goes beyond mere academic analysis, to offer usable, down-to-earth, and immediately applicable--that is, practical--guidelines and recommendations for improving the quality of policing on a daily basis. Two major themes shape this book. The first is the concept of community policing, which is becoming the model of local law enforcement in a growing number of jurisdictions. To be effective in community policing, patrol officers must be practical psychologists. The second theme is professionalism and how those in law enforcement share the role as competent decision makers whose citizens they protect and serve expect them to meet the highest standards of education, training, and psychological fitness. These two themes translate into two broad domains of policing where psychological knowledge and expertise can make important contributions. One is the role of law enforcement behavioral science in operational assistance of police activities, such as hostage negotiation, suicide-by-cop intervention, criminal profiling, suspect interrogation, and others. The second domain has to do with cops taking care of themselves and dealing with problems within their own department, which includes critical incident stress, post-shooting trauma, specialized psychotherapy for law enforcement officers, alcohol and substance abuse problems and others. The result is a valuable and practical guidebook for law enforcement and behavioral science professionals that will measurably enhance the performance of their departments and contribute to the success of community policing and law enforcement professionalization.