Book Review: Issues and Cases in Law Enforcement: Decisions, Ethics and Judgment

• Author: Keith Atterberry
• DOI: 10.1177/0734016811398617
• Date: 01 December 2011
• Published date: 01 December 2011
• Subject Matter: Book Reviews

One potential shortcoming to the book is that only one chapter focuses on training exercises and

techniques. For some trainers in the intelligence community, the techniques and exercises given may

not be enough to organize a training workshop. However, for trainers with more experience,

Richards’ examples provide adequate materials. Furthermore, although the author made exceptional

choices of selected case studies across the Western countries, any trainer located outside of the

United Kingdom should carefully review the information to ensure the conclusions drawn by

Richards can be generalized to the country in question.

Richards contributes to the field by providing a guide for intelligence analysis trainers and

analysts. Furthermore, anyone interested in the field would gain background knowledge on the

strengths and weaknesses of intelligence analysis, what intelligence analysis entails, and how to

begin thinking as an analyst. Techniques are given to allow for individuals to learn to process

information in a different manner (critical thinking skills). These techniques are not necessarily

specific to the intelligence analysis field, but can be used by academics as well.

J. J. Vardalis

Issues and Cases in Law Enforcement: Decisions, Ethics and Judgment Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas, 2010. xvii,

222 pp. $53.95. ISBN: 978-0-398-07929-1

Reviewed by: Keith Atterberry, University of Illinois at Chicago, IL, USA

DOI: 10.1177/0734016811398617

In Issues and Cases in Law Enforcement: Decisions, Ethics and Judgment, Dr. James J. Vardalis

finds the current social and economic climate in the United States to be particularly problematic with

regard to the criminal justice system in general and the role of law enforcement in particular.

Specifically, Vardalis posits that the proliferation of technology in the form of video cameras and

the Internet, a lagging economy, and law enforcement’s failure to adapt and relate to diverse

U.S. cultures have created significant problems for law enforcement. Vardalis argues that, as a

result, law enforcement’s public image has been distorted, in part because of the spread of negative

video-recorded images of police behaving improperly via the Internet by biased observers.

Moreover, Vardalis argues that the current social and economic climate negatively affects an

increasingly diverse U.S. population, resulting in unresolved problems in the community. Further-

more, Vardalis theorizes that law enforcement must utilize advanced skills when relating to diverse

cultures within this new paradigm or risk ineffectiveness. Thus, Vardalis suggests that these prob-

lems dictate a need for law enforcement practitioners to be better trained in problem solving, deci-

sion making, and are more responsive to community problems and needs. Vardalis’s overarching

objective is to advance the professionalism, proficiency, and performance of the law enforcement

vocation in general, and better prepare the reader for professional policing in specific, by introducing

the reader to difficult situations encountered by law enforcement and providing the reader with

questions that provoke discussion and analysis. With that goal in mind, this book is useful as a train-

ing tool for students seeking careers in law enforcement, police recruits, and law enforcement

practitioners.

The content and substance of this book are within the scope of the intended reader. Vardalis deftly

proffers 26 law enforcement case studies—ranging from race relations and street disturbance, to dis-

cretion issues in traffic enforcement—designed to ‘‘confront difficult decision-making issues, force

students to identify essential information, analyze facts appropriately, identify mistakes, recognize

alternatives, choose alternatives, and make reasonable conclusions’’ (p. viii). In this regard, Varda-

lis’s attempt to increase police professionalism and prepare the reader to better handle issues in law

518 Criminal Justice Review 36(4)