Marcus Felson is the originator of the routine activity approach and author of Crime and Everyday Life. He has also authored Crime and Nature, and he serves as a professor at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. He has a B.A. from the University of Chicago and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. He has received the 2014 Honoris Causa from the Universidad Miguel Hernandez in Spain, and he has been given the Ronald Clarke Award by the Environmental Criminology and Crime Analysis group and the Paul Tappan Award by the Western Society of Criminology. He has been a guest lecturer in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, El Salvador, England, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. He has applied routine activity thinking to many topics, including theft, violence, sexual abuse, white-collar crime, and corruption. Two books honoring Professor Felson's work have been published, one in English and another in Spanish.

Mary A. Eckert has devoted an active career to applied research in criminal justice and program evaluation. She has an M.A. and Ph.D. from New York University. Her B.A. is from the College of New Rochelle. Dr. Eckert served as Research Director of the New York City Criminal Justice Agency, Inc., where she authored many research reports and guided that agency's diverse research agenda, including work on pretrial risk assessment, court case processing, and evaluation of alternative-to-incarceration programs. She then served in the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, with a special focus on statistical evaluation of vehicle stops to assist the New Jersey State Police in reducing the potential for racial profiling. Her work has been recognized by the New York Association of Pretrial Service Agencies and the State of New Jersey. She has also served as an adjunct professor at New York University, Montclair State University, and Texas State University. Marcus Felson's wife and life partner, this book is her second collaboration with her husband.