This book joins an incredibly useful collection of volumes in the series. In terms of mental health assessment, "best practices" are often in the eye of the beholder. That is why it is so important that best practices as outlined in this series, and in the current volume in particular, should be well informed and pragmatic... Only recently have efforts been made to standardize such assessments, to link those assessments to the field of mental health, and to consider
them during hiring, training, and after critical incidents. Many useful concepts and procedures are discussed, including functional competencies and how to describe and evaluate them, as well as common pitfalls of data interpretation. The material on explicit and implicit bias is crucial to consider
in terms of both the assessor and the one being assessed. This all-around practical guide will not only facilitate the conduct of such assessments but also explain to agencies why they are needed.
David M. Corey, PhD is a licensed psychologist with nearly 40 years of experience performing suitability and fitness evaluations for police and other safety-sensitive positions. He is the founding president of the American Board of Police & Public Safety Psychology, and a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA, Division 18).
Mark Zelig, PhD is a licensed psychologist in private practice in Salt Lake City and Anchorage. He retired from the Salt Lake City Police Department as a lieutenant after 25 years of service. He has testified in more than 1,000 civil and criminal cases, and he conducts suitability and fitness evaluations for multiple police and other local, state and federal government agencies.