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Meet AIAFS' Expert Trainers



Eric Hickey, Ph.D.



Dr. Eric Hickey is a senior core faculty member in Walden University’s Forensic Psychology doctoral program. As the former Dean of the California School of Forensic Studies at Alliant International University and Professor Emeritus at California State University, Fresno, Dr. Hickey has taught many courses involving the psychology of crime. Some of the topics explored include serial and mass murder, criminal paraphilia and sexual predators, crime scene investigations, psychopathy and criminal personalities, arson and fire-setting, threat assessment and risk management, school and workplace violence prevention and victimology.  He has also taught seminars at several universities and colleges, as well as for jail and prison staff trainings and supervises theses and dissertations involving current topics in forensic psychology. 

Dr. Hickey has considerable field experience working with the criminally insane, psychopaths, sex offenders and other habitual criminals. He consults with private agencies and testifies as an expert witness in both criminal and civil cases involving sex crimes against children and adults, criminal paraphilia, stalking, homicide, domestic violence and serial crimes. A former consultant to the FBI's UNABOM Task Force, Dr. Hickey assists local, state, and federal law enforcement in training and investigations as well as assisting in the review of cold case files.

His seminars for law enforcement and mental health practitioners focus on criminal profiling, offender psychopathy, female criminality, sex crimes, homicide, and other forensically related topics. He has worked with California’s Peace Officer Service Training (POST) in developing course material and job aids for investigators. Dr. Hickey has provided Independent Contractor services for Robson Forensics, Atrium Services; ForensisGroup, and Avante Behavioral Health. He is also a consultant and contractor for the United States Army Military Police Behavioral Sciences Education and Training Division (BSETD) at Ft. Leonard Wood, MO. 

An international survey (2014) identified Dr. Hickey as one of the top 30 active forensic experts in the world. He has conducted seminars in countries throughout Europe, Asia and North America and has trained VIP protection specialists in Israel in profiling stalkers and conducting threat assessments and interventions. He collaborates with international schools in Rome and Madrid, to facilitate global training for students interested in applied forensic psychology. His expertise is chronicled in dozens of television documentaries including appearances on History Channel, NPR, 20/20, A&E Bio, Oxygen, Reelz, GMA, CBC, TruTV, Discovery, TLC, CNN and others.

Dr. Hickey is a member of the Society of Police and Criminal Psychology (SPCP) and past Editor-in-Chief for their Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology (JPCP). He has also published several books and articles on the etiology of violence and serial crime. His most frequently cited book, Serial Murderers and Their Victims, 7th ed., 2016 (Wadsworth-Cengage Publishers), is used as a teaching tool in universities and by law enforcement in studying the nature of violence, criminal personalities and victim-offender relationships. His current research focuses upon the development of his theory of relational paraphilic attachment (RPA) and sexual predators. Dr. Hickey recently published a collaborative study assessing psychopathy levels in American serial killers. Another of his recent co-edited books Understanding Necrophilia: A Global Interdisciplinary Approach, 2017 (Cognella), explores through the eyes of noted experts, some of the darkest criminal behaviors known to mankind.