Fundamentals of Investigative Report Writing teaches readers how to precisely construct investigative reports, whether for criminal, employment-policy, or employee-performance investigations. Dedicated to helping report-writers produce valuable extrinsic documentation, the book explains how to describe "what happened and why" in clear, concise terms. Topics include writing attitude and ethics, the "always" rules of writing, tips for conducting successful interviews, techniques for writing with precision, purposes and techniques for editing and proof-reading, and how to incorporate sketches, drawings, diagrams, and other visuals. The book also addresses considerations when writing United States Constitutional- based reports, as well as strategies involved in other forms of written communication such as e-mail, business letters, memoranda, and social media. This edition features a chapter devoted to performance evaluations that helps supervisors to be accurate, state things efficiently, insure the quality of the organization, and develop the employee. Each chapter includes learning objectives, chapter summaries, specific writing assignments, and a feature story related to the chapter's content-focus. Illustrations have been carefully selected to support the written text. Thoughtfully developed to set students and instructors up for success, Fundamentals of Investigative Report Writing is ideal for technical education programs in administration of justice, criminal justice, and law enforcement and courses on investigative and police report writing and report writing for criminal justice and law enforcement professionals.

There is no book of political strategy more canonical than Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince, but few ethicists would advise policymakers to treat it as a bible. The lofty ideals of the law, especially, seem distant from the values that the word "Machiavellian" connotes, and judges are supposed to work above the realm of politics. In The Judge, however, Ronald Collins and David Skover argue that Machiavelli can indeed speak to judges, and model their book after The Prince. As it turns out, the number of people who think that judges in the U.S. are apolitical has been shrinking for decades. Both liberals and conservatives routinely criticize their ideological opponents on the bench for acting politically. Some authorities even posit the impossibility of apolitical judges, and indeed, in many states, judicial elections are partisan. Others advocate appointing judges who are committed to being dispassionate referees adhering to the letter of the law. However, most legal experts, regardless of their leanings, seem to agree that despite widespread popular support for the ideal of the apolitical judge, this ideal is mere fantasy. This debate about judges and politics has been a perennial in American history, but it intensified in the 1980s, when the Reagan administration sought to place originalists in the Supreme Court. It has not let up since. Ronald Collins and David Skover argue that the debate has become both stale and circular, and instead tackle the issue in a boldly imaginative way. In The Judge, they ask us to assume that judges are political, and that they need advice on how to be effective political actors. Their twenty-six chapters track the structure of The Prince, and each provides pointers to judges on how to cleverly and subtly advance their political goals. In this Machiavellian vision, law is inseparable from realpolitik. However, the authors' point isn't to advocate for this coldly realistic vision of judging. There ultimate goal is identify both legal realists and originalists as what they are: explicitly political (though on opposite ends of the ideological spectrum). Taking its cues from Machiavelli, The Judge describes what judges actually do, not what they ought to do.

Strong evidence links early problem behavior to later adolescent delinquency and serious adult criminality. Many children in the United States are lacking fundamental elements essential for human development. These children are legally entitled, but have no access, to safe shelter, adequate food, basic health care, and sufficient preparation to become economically viable adults. The absence of these resources has been linked to abnormal development, economically and socially marginal existence, and persistent criminality. Children whose parents are criminals have a high probability of becoming delinquents. Those identified in court as abused or neglected by their parents are more likely than other children to become delinquent. Offenders whose parents were also criminals have a high probability of being high-rate predatory criminals. However, whether or not their parents have criminal histories, children raised by mothers or fathers with good parenting skills are less likely to become delinquents or serious offenders. Inmates who assume responsible family roles after they are released are less likely to recidivate than offenders without family ties. The vast majority of delinquents and criminals eventually "mature out" of crime; assumption of family responsibilities can be a key factor in this process. Research documents the effectiveness of early prevention and intervention in forestalling these outcomes. Waiting until the mid-to-late teenage years to intervene in persistent delinquency ensures that the battle will be difficult, if not impossible. The current focus on older juveniles is at best a stopgap measure; it ignores younger children, who, in the absence of early prevention/intervention, will soon follow the same nonproductive path as their teenage role models. Research also suggests that early childhood programs cost relatively little compared to the costs associated with the problems they prevent later, such as drug and alcohol abuse, teen pregnancy, special education requirements, or institutionalization.