Policing Critical Incidents Leadership and Critical Incident Management

The aim of this book is to examine the qualities of leadership and decision-making in the police service. Based on groundbreaking research using unique, advanced methods for examining policing in complex critical incident environments, the book focuses principally on a series of police debriefs following live major critical incidents. It captures the views of the Senior Investigating Officers (SIOs) who worked on these cases and draws upon the very rich set of experiences that they have had in dealing with complex, stressful and demanding enquiries. The book provides an introduction to new methods for exploring leadership and decision-making in critical incidents. It will be an essential resource for developers of police training in leadership and decision-making, senior police officers involved in critical incident management, organisational psychologists who work within policing, and for students whose area of study covers policing, decision-making or criminal investigation.

Preface: A conversation that mattered, William Griffiths Foreword: Understanding Critical Event Learning and Leadership Using Hydra/10kVImmersive Learning and Debriefing and Other Tools, John Grieve (former Head of the Racial and Violent Crime Task Force, Metropolitan Police Service) 1. Introduction, Laurence Alison 2. The journey, Jonathan Crego 3. Electronic debriefs and simulations as descriptive methods for defining the critical incident landscape, Marie Eyre, Jonathan Crego and Laurence Alison 4. The current state of police leadership research, Allison Wright, Laurence Alison and Jonathan Crego 5. Command, control and support in critical incidents, Kate Whitfield, Laurence Alison and Jonathan Crego 6. Leading co-operation and context in Hydra syndicates, Laurence Alison, Jonathan Crego, Kate Whitfield, Andrea Caddick and Laura Cataudo 7. Towards a taxonomy of police decision making in murder enquiries, Sam Mullins and Laurence Alison 8. Heuristics and biases in decision making, Louise Almond, Laurence Alison, Marie Eyre, Jonathan Crego and Alasdair Goodwill 9. Emotions in policing: the emotional legacy of homicide investigations, Jonathan Crego, Laurence Alison, Jennie Roocroft and Marie Eyre 10. Decision inertia: the impact of organisations on critical incident decision making, Marie Eyre, Laurence Alison, Clare McLean and Jonathan Crego 11. Conclusions

Professor Laurence Alison is Co-director of the Centre for Critical Incident Research, University of Liverpool where he also holds a Chair in forensic psychology. He is a Chartered Forensic Psychologist, conducts research on investigative decision-making and leadership and has contributed to a number of major police enquiries as well as national police training programmes. His recent publications include (as editor) The Forensic Psychologist's Casebook (Willan Publishing, 2005).