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. Foreword: Understanding Critical Event Learning and Leadership Using Hydra/10kVImmersive Learning and Debriefing and Other Tools 1. Introduction 2. The Journey 3. Electronic Debriefs and Simulations as Descriptive Methods for Defining the Critical Incident Landscape 4. The Current State of Police Leadership Research 5. Command, Control and Support in Critical Incidents 6. Leading Co-operation and Context in Hydra Syndicates 7. Towards a Taxonomy of Police Decision Making in Murder Enquiries 8. Heuristics and Biases in Decision Making 9. Emotions in Policing: The Emotional Legacy of Homicide Investigations 10. Decision Inertia: The Impact of Organisations on Critical Incident Decision Making 11. Conclusions

Professor Laurence Alison