The Jones & Bartlett Learning Public Safety Group, in partnership with The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), is pleased to present the fourth edition of Chief Officer: Principles and Practice. Revised to address chief officers’ most pressing challenges today, this edition has been updated to meet Chapters 11: Fire Officer III (NFPA 1021) and 12: Fire Officer IV (NFPA 1021) of NFPA 1020, Standard for Fire and Emergency Services Instructor, Fire Officer, and Emergency Medical Services Officer Professional Qualifications, 2025 Edition.
Chief Officer: Principles and Practice, Fourth Edition, enables future chief officers to skillfully transition from company officers to the problem-solving leaders their organizations need to tackle everyday challenges in their communities.
Instructors and learners will find a clear division of Fire Officer III and IV content, chapters organized to communicate content clearly and reinforce critical concepts throughout the text, engaging case studies, and new content that every chief officer should know.
What's New in the Fourth Edition:
- Chapters with discussion questions, review questions, case studies, and summaries of NFPA job performance requirements (JPRs) and student competency objectives
- Correlation grid linking JPRs from NFPA 1020 Chapters 11 and 12 with chapter objectives and page numbers
- Updated content on professional development, communications, legal issues, human resources, government relations, finance, community relations, code enforcement, risk reduction, executive personnel management, planning, and disaster management
- Updated National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Life Safety Initiatives
- New guidance on courses and programs for employee professional development
- New legal discussions on civil and criminal cases, lawsuit stages, contract elements, EMS laws, Firefighter Bill of Rights, accommodations, records retention, and cyberlaw
- New insights on evaluations and promotion processes
- New discussions on budget cuts and cost recovery
- New content on briefing officials, post-incident analysis, and organizational benchmarks
- New discussions on cybersecurity and fire service threats
- Much more!