Biography

Vincent B. Van Hasselt, Ph.D., is a President’s Distinguished Professor and Professor of Psychology at Nova Southeastern University.  He is Director of the First Responder Research and Training Program.  Dr. Van Hasselt’s area of specialization is First Responder Psychology focusing on the challenges and problems of police, firefighters, emergency communication operators, and crime scene investigators.

Much of Dr. Van Hasselt’s research has involved collaborations with the FBI’s Crisis Negotiation and Behavioral Science Units. He is co-developer of the FBI’s Global Hostage-Taking Research and Analysis Project (GHosT-RAP), which is studying the motivations and tactics of hostage takers internationally. He is also currently involved in the development of the Long-Term Evaders (LOTES) Project with the Behavioral Analysis Unit of U.S. Marshals Service. The goal of this endeavor is to determine strategies utilized by criminals who have effectively managed to evade apprehension for extended periods of time. In addition, Dr. Van Hasselt currently serves as Editor-in-Chief for Aggression and Violent Behavior: A Review Journal, and Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse. For 25 years he served as Editor of the Journal of Family Violence.

Dr. Van Hasselt serves as a part-time police officer with the City of Plantation Police Department for nearly 20 years in order to advance collaborative research, teaching, and service. In this capacity, he is a member of the Field Force Unit. Most notably, he co-founded the Department’s Crisis Response Team (CRT), and continues with the unit in the role of Training Coordinator and Team Member. Because of his extensive work with CRT, Dr. Van Hasselt was recently given the Distinguished Service Award, one of the highest commendations given by the Plantation Police Department.

Dr. Van Hasselt is also the Team Psychologist for the Hostage Negotiation Unit of the FBI Miami Field Office, and the FBI National Crisis Prevention and Intervention Program. As a Team Psychologist for the latter, he has assisted in dealing with numerous critical incidents involving Bureau personnel. This included the space shuttle Challenger disaster where he was part of the crisis response team led by the FBI. He also provided critical incident debriefings and counseling to FBI and other law enforcement personnel who were involved in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, and the subsequent anthrax case in Boca Raton.