Recent Book: A Forward Look in Police Education
| Date | 01 April 1960 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X6003300214 |
| Author | J. D. Dagg |
| Published date | 01 April 1960 |
| Subject Matter | Recent Book |
indeed, he selects only certain parts of
the
whole field of practice in forensic
medicine
and
deliberately excludes all administrative matter with the excep-
non
of a statement on the law
of
sexual offences. Illustrations
from
his own
and
his colleagues' day to day problems are strewn liberally along the way
and,
except for the first few, are good. '
Reviews should tell
you
what a
book
is
about,
how well
it
covers the
subject
and
whether the
author
has-in
readable
.language-accomplished
his object. It IS of no advantage to anybody to cavil over detail or bemoan
~n
author's personal convictions: Mant, in fact, is
remarkably
free from
Iconoclastic writing
and
there are few statements with which his own
colleagues would differ. Production is good and misprints are too few to
matter. This is one of those nice practical writings
from
apractical
man
who has set to pen something he knows will be of help to his less ex-
perienced colleagues. He thinks clearly and expresses himself lucidly
throughout.
Future
editions must, we feel, say something of a
number
of
very
practical matters
that
do
not
achieve mention in the
index-or
the
text-
this
time:
alcohol, bloodstains, concussion, defence wounds, epilepsy, finger-
prints, gassing, hairs,
identification-to
list alphabetically some gaps
that
are
certainly a
part
of
the
medical "Observation and
lnterpretation"-will
need attention.
We found the constant references to
"Case
No. 000" in both the
text
and
in captions to photographs exasperating, for they
mean
nothing to
the reader and give no help when the text to which they refer is on
another
page:
publisher and
author
must
share
the blame for this irritating
practice. In general the book is a most practical little handbook and worth
commending to the police surgeon, part-time forensic pathologist,
C.l.D.
or coroner's officer.
The
style
and
English
are
both excellent
and
the price
by no means outrageous by modern standards.
KEITH
SIMPSON.
THOMAS
M.
FROST:
AForward
Look
in Police Education. Blackwell
Scientific Publications. 66s.
THE
AUTHOR
of this
book
is a
member
of the Chicago Police
Department
and holds several degrees and distinctions
from
Loyola University together
with a College Teacher's Certificate with the Chicago Board of Education.
He
has
had
considerable experience as a Police Education Consultant in the
fields of Psychological Testing, Teaching,
and
Personnel Administration in
America, and
appears
to be eminently qualified to provide awork on Police
Education. His
book
will undoubtedly be extremely welcome in America
and contains much of interest and value to the British reader. It is a sober-
ing fact to find
that
there is
not
a single text devoted to the essential pro-
position of assisting the police instructor by explaining the rudiments of the
teaching techniques in terms of police instruction.
This
book
has been
written to resolve
that
problem.
The
book, well printed and in good
format
on excellent paper, is divided
into six chapters,
the
first of which is devoted to tracing the growth
of
Police Education Systems in America and offering some solutions to resolv-
ing the problems
of
education
for
the small Departments.
Chapter
II ex-
plains the essentials of
proper
construction of a Police Curriculum which
would be valid and worthwhile
for
any educable police group. In studying
this chapter, the reader should give. considerable attention to the Social
and
Physical
Factors
of the
Commumty
as anticipatory police problems. A
"Statement
of Philosophy" is included in the text, directing attention to
what we term "Liberty of the Subject."
The
author
could, with advantage,
have
extended this theme, as it is extremely fundamental in any
form
of
police training in the Western world.
Chapter
HI is packed with useful
matter
and is, in my opinion, the most
important
part
of the book.
It
deals
with the psychology of Police Teaching and commences with the proposi-
tion
that
if students are not learmng, It may be due to the ineptness of the
teacher as well as the mentality of the students. Teaching is the skilful
method employed by one person to get others to learn.
The
teacher
m1!st
lead, motivate, inspire, and coach
the
students to understand
an~
pra.ctI~e
the subject
matter
so
that
they will develop the knowledge or skill within
themselves.
To
do this,
the
person selected as a teacher
must
be above
the
140 April-June 1960
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