Investigating Terrorism: Current Political, Legal and Psychological Issues.

• Author: Cristian-Mihai, Costenar
• Position: Book review

Edited by John Pearse

Wiley-Blackwell, 2016, 288 pages, [pounds sterling]34.99, ISBN: 9781119994152.

Reviewed by Costenar Cristian-Mihai, Turkish National Police Academy

In Investigating Terrorism: Current Political, Legal and Psychological Issues, the contributors investigate the relationship between terrorism and the police, and how this relationship affects societies from both political and judicial aspects. The book reviews the tactics police use in fighting terror, challenges the procedures of interviewing terrorist suspects in the United Kingdom, and makes cross-comparisons with other countries. Because the editor and the contributors are mostly experts active in the United Kingdom, their views are largely influenced by particular events such as the July 7th 2005 bombings and Irish terrorist campaigns.

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The authors split the book into three major parts: they discuss the political, legal and policing context of the subject first, and then enter into an elaborate discussion of the criminal justice process. The final part concerns individual and group perspectives. In the first, fourth and fifth chapters, the authors discuss the legal and political aspects of terrorism within the United Kingdom. The passing of legislation and other legal acts related to counter-terrorism are analyzed, and the practice of 'urgent interviews' is discussed, as well as their legal framework and how these factors may affect the rights of a terror suspect. The authors also cover defense counseling, its role and responsibilities if the court is examining a terror suspect case. In the second, eighth, twelfth, and thirteenth chapters, the authors analyze police behavior when it is confronted with terror cases. Here they enter into a detailed discussion of the nature of post-9/11 terrorism and how it differs from 'old' terrorism. Appropriate behaviors for 'crisis negotiators' and their model of approaching suspects are also described within the book.

In the final chapter, the relationship between the community and police is explored in order to understand how it may be damaged or improved depending on particular police procedures. Here, the author highlights the relationship between the community and police and intelligence services in order to explain how a 'long-term counter-terrorism' approach might be implemented to decrease the likelihood of terrorist attacks. In the third and sixth chapters, the authors analyze interviewing procedures...