Pre-Employment Background Investigations for Public Safety Professionals

Pre-Employment Background Investigations for Public Safety Professionals. By Frank Colaprete. CRC Press, www.crcpress.com; 623 pages; $99.99; also available as an e-book.

While few books deserve five stars, this excellent work deserves at least that. Author Frank Colaprete is a former police lieutenant with an impressive résumé. His academic acumen and scholarship shine brightly in this easy-to-read and informative text. Thanks to an exhaustive index presented in a logical and splendidly simple format, the reader is guided through the complex maze of preemployment screening in the public-safety sector. Nothing is overlooked or misplaced. No reader could want more from an author or security professional.

Checklists and forms supplement the broad-base of information provided. Cola­prete also lays out an elegant process for properly and efficiently screening applicants. The bibliography is exhaustive, with 141 pages of references; there are also several thousand citations that appear throughout the text.

As a frequent book critic for this magazine for more than 15 years, I cannot recall reading or reviewing a more useful or professionally written book than this. Without reservations (a first for this reviewer), I recommend this fine book for anyone involved with preemployment screening in either the public or private sector.