The Police: An Introduction

This book explores the principles of policing and introduces readers to the history, administration, and day-to-day practices of the police in the United States. Offering a balanced perspective, it provides readers with the basic framework for understanding contemporary police issues and discusses the myths and preconceptions commonly associated with the profession. This edition includes a new chapter on police culture, a new chapter on police liability, and information on how police work interfaces with forensic science and modern technology.

Michael D. Lyman is on the criminal justice faculty with the Criminal Justice and Social Work Department at Columbia College, Columbia, Missouri. He serves the department as teaching faculty and the Director of Graduate Studies. Prior to entering the field of college teaching, he was employed as a Special Agent for the Intelligence and Organized Crime Division of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and later as a Senior Intelligence Agent for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. Dr. Lyman received both his bachelors and master's degrees from Wichita State University and his Ph.D. from the University of Missouri-Columbia.