This book examines how the police make decisions in real life situations, particularly in major enquiries. The two key themes explored are real-time decision making along with what "works" in such circumstances. It aims to set out how successful decisions are arrived at in a variety of difficult and time-constrained situations and discusses the lessons that can be learnt from this. Written by practitioners and academics, the book explores a range of topics, from the decision making process involved operational matters and in difficult-so-solve murder enquiries. It not only examines decision making but also how experienced decision makers function. It looks at the psychology of police decision making, decision making involved in cold case investigations, and discusses the need for "grip" during major investigations. The contributors are experienced and respected practitioners and academics This book will appeal particularly to those studying Policing and Criminology and also to Investigating Officers and those involved in professionalising investigative practice.

Self-Selection Policing introduces and explores an approach for crime control which seeks to identify active, serious offenders by attending to the minor offences they commit. A foundation of theory and evidence is first supplied for the assertion that 'those who do big bad things also do little bad things'. Original research presented in the book includes a study of offending by visitors to a prison, and the concurrent criminality of those committing common driving offences and failure to produce driving documents as required. It illustrates how self-selection can complement other police methods of identifying active, serious criminals by focusing on what offenders do rather than who they are and what they have done in the past. Concentrating on the 'usual suspects' in the conventional way is often criticised as harassment and self-selection policing largely bypasses the issue of fairness this raises. The book concludes with a call for the consideration, development and wider adoption of the self-selection approach, and particularly the identification of other common minor offences which flag concurrent active criminality. The authors make important suggestions for the progression of SSP research and practice, including the identification of barriers to the implementation of the approach in wider police thinking, practice and policy. Practical guidance is also provided for those thinking of developing, testing and implementing the approach. In doing so, the book will be of particular interest for policing practitioners, as well as students and scholars of policing and crime control.

Human physique and behaviour has been shaped by the pressures of natural selection. This is received wisdom in all scientifically informed circles. Currently, the topic of crime is rarely touched upon in textbooks on evolution and the topic of evolution rarely even mentioned in criminology textbooks. This book for the first time explores how an evolution informed criminology has clear implications for enhancing our understanding of the criminal law, crime and criminal behaviour.

This book is directed more towards students of criminology than students of evolution. It is suggested that there is scope for more collaborative work, with criminologists and crime scientists exposed to Darwinian thought having much to gain. What is suggested is simply that such thinking provides a fresh perspective. If that perspective yields only a fraction of the understanding when applied to crime as it has elsewhere in science, the effort will have been worthwhile.

The authors attempt to provide a modest appraisal of the potential contribution that a more welcoming approach to the evolutionary perspective would make to criminology; both theoretically (by expanding understanding of the complexity of the origins of behaviour labelled criminal) and practically (where the evolutionary approach can be utilised to inform crime control policy and practice). An evolutionary lens is applied to diverse criminological topics such as the origins of criminal law, female crime, violence, and environmental factors involved in crime causation.

Human physique and behaviour has been shaped by the pressures of natural selection. This is received wisdom in all scientifically informed circles. Currently, the topic of crime is rarely touched upon in textbooks on evolution and the topic of evolution rarely even mentioned in criminology textbooks. This book for the first time explores how an evolution informed criminology has clear implications for enhancing our understanding of the criminal law, crime and criminal behaviour.

This book is directed more towards students of criminology than students of evolution. It is suggested that there is scope for more collaborative work, with criminologists and crime scientists exposed to Darwinian thought having much to gain. What is suggested is simply that such thinking provides a fresh perspective. If that perspective yields only a fraction of the understanding when applied to crime as it has elsewhere in science, the effort will have been worthwhile.

The authors attempt to provide a modest appraisal of the potential contribution that a more welcoming approach to the evolutionary perspective would make to criminology; both theoretically (by expanding understanding of the complexity of the origins of behaviour labelled criminal) and practically (where the evolutionary approach can be utilised to inform crime control policy and practice). An evolutionary lens is applied to diverse criminological topics such as the origins of criminal law, female crime, violence, and environmental factors involved in crime causation.

This book is the first to explore how psychological knowledge and research can be used to enhance police performance on a range of operational tasks, ranging from better identification of those giving false personal details, to the minimisation of cognitive bias in criminal investigations. Part of a textbook series designed to incorporate `evidence based policing' within Higher Education curriculums, each chapter encourages critical reflection followed by suggested further reading. Of benefit to both police practitioners and students of criminology, psychology, and policing, this unique book will help readers understand complex topics and point them in the direction of further avenues for research.

This book is the first to explore how psychological knowledge and research can be used to enhance police performance on a range of operational tasks, ranging from better identification of those giving false personal details, to the minimisation of cognitive bias in criminal investigations. Part of a textbook series designed to incorporate `evidence based policing' within Higher Education curriculums, each chapter encourages critical reflection followed by suggested further reading. Of benefit to both police practitioners and students of criminology, psychology, and policing, this unique book will help readers understand complex topics and point them in the direction of further avenues for research.

This book explores the evolutionary context of terrorism and political violence. While evolutionary thinking has come to permeate both biological and social-science theorising, it has not yet been applied systematically to the areas of terrorism and political violence. This volume seeks to do this for the first time. It presents a collection of essays on evolutionary psychology and terrorism, which encourage the reader to approach terrorism from a non-traditional perspective, by developing new approaches to understanding it and those who commit such acts of violence. The book identifies evolutionary thought as heuristically important in the understanding of terrorism, explores the key conceptual themes, and provides an evolutionary (and cross-species) understanding of the community-wide effects of terrorist attacks. The contributors bring forward innovative ideas and concepts to assist the practitioner, analyst and academic to better understand and respond to the threat of terrorism. In doing so this book challenges existing assumptions about terrorism and those who carry out such acts, in order to move the debate into new areas characterized by an emphasis on intellectual quality and rigour, an interdisciplinary approach, and a drawing together of theory and practice. The intention is to provide a sufficient discussion to enable the reader to both understand the relevance of evolutionary thinking to terrorism and political violence, and to appreciate the practical implications of conceptualising problems in this way. This book will be of much interest to students of terrorism and political violence, psychology, criminology and security studies.

This book explores the evolutionary context of terrorism and political violence.

Evolutionary thinking has come to permeate both biological and social-science theorising, but has not yet been applied systematically to the areas of terrorism and political violence. While much serious criminality has been investigated from an evolutionary perspective (notably murder and sexual predation), this has been less marked in respect of terror groups. Central to such thinking is the eusociality of people, involving loyalty to and investment in groups not exceeding some 200 in number. Known as 'Dunbar's number', how this influences and affects terrorist and violent political group formation, their sustainability, and how it might be used to inform counter measures against them, remain to be explored. Yet some features of federated groups, choice of hate targets, and socialisation into crime is likely to be informative when applied to terrorism. This book seeks to do this for the first time.

The key features of the p reent volume are:
1. Identification of evolutionary thought as heuristically important in the understanding of terrorism.
2. Suggestions as to practical evolution-based anti-terror policies.
3. Exploration of conceptual themes
4. Provision of an evolutionary (and cross-species) understanding of the community-wide effects of terrorist attack.

The structure aims to introduce evolutionary thinking about terrorism, and then to explore some selected conceptual issues. Necessarily in a book of this type, not all areas of potential interest and relevance can be covered, but the intention is to provide a sufficient discussion to enable the reader to both understand the relevance of evolutionary thinking to terrorism and political violence, and to appreciate the practical implications of conceptualising problems in this way.

This book will be of much interest to students of terrorism and political violence, psychology, criminology and security studies.