Often when there is police corruption in the news, there are individuals who will point fingers not only at the officers involved but also at the leadership in charge. The mindset, in general, is that if the leadership had reigned in their officers, then incidents of unruly behavior, excessive use of force and questionable decision-making would not have occurred. Thus, it leads this author to wonder what impact leadership truly has in policing. More specifically, this author is concerned with discovering if leadership styles have an effect on how effective or ineffective a leader will be within policing.
Throughout the course of this paper, this author will discuss various types of leadership styles, behavioral traits and how they pertain to leadership, as well as what determines if a leader is effective. It is the hope of this author that a discovery will be made to clarify the aforementioned scopes in regards to their impact on leadership within policing.
Part I: Leadership Styles. Looking throughout the course of history, it is very evident that a multitude of leadership styles have been employed by world leaders. The President of the United States, for example, is someone who recognizes the strengths of bureaucratic leadership, strategic leadership, team leadership, charismatic leadership and situational leadership. The type of leadership used by the President often depends on the situation that is being addressed. On the other end of the spectrum, there are some
Are the people placed in these roles fit as being a leader? Are they capable of leading in a large quality in the future? There has been research on the varied of different leadership styles with in law enforcement agencies. Other views on the research focus on leadership and how it effects organizational commitment. There is a need to push out research and create different models in order to redesign of law enforcement agencies. According to Patrick J. Hughes “Increasing Organizational Leadership Through the Police Promotional Process”, he explains the current process used in promoting ranks and the available leadership education for law enforcement agents. There are clear connections between leadership styles and how to proper assess a true
Integrity and honor, servanthood, mentorship, professionalism, positive attitude, reinforcement and accountability, and proactive communication is what Jack E. Enter P.h. D states is the seven laws of leadership in his book, “Challenging the Law Enforcement Organization; Proactive Leadership Strategies.” Enter indicates the purpose of this book is to develop leaders whom are abnormal and different from most. This book identifies poor and successful leadership traits based on Enter’s education, his personal experiences in law enforcement, teaching, and from his personal life.
The seriousness of this organization, and the publics perceptions, requires leaders to understand they are responsible for all of their own actions and the actions of their subordinates. Leadership failures have higher consequences in law enforcement than if a leader makes a mistake working in a retail outlet. No criminal justice leader should ignore the input given to them by their officers because they understand what is happening on the streets they police on a daily basis. Vollmer’s “Friday crab club” needs to find a place in every law enforcement organization to ensure that the leadership style is being utilized
Why does bad leadership exist? Bad leadership indeed exists in the US Border Patrol is a question that I have wondered about for many years. What has been done to fix the problem and if any programs have been created to develop good and efficient leaders for the future. This paper sought a definition of bad leadership, and compiled a taxonomy of eighteen types of poor leaders. This research serves as a review of poor leadership in the US Border Patrol. Why does it exists, why it is tolerated and what impact positive leadership may have on this problem.
This is not just relevant to policing, you see it in many things. I believe we’d like to identify one simple way of doing something, which isn't always reasonable or appropriate. We must have different methods to address different situations. Lets look at leadership styles, I do not believe you can, or should, use the same style for every situation or every person.
Toxic leadership, likely found in all agencies at some point, and the general awareness of toxic leaders with whom individual officers have worked, makes this a real problem for law enforcement agencies. Knowing the root and cause of this type of leadership helps develop understanding on the part of those that can effect a change in leadership within an agency. Comprehending the methods by which such environments develop and their negative impact on the agency as a whole - via individual officers’ experiences, opens the doors on hidden collusion that destroy morale.
With all of the temptation, attempts to fit into a subculture, and desire to please superiors, mentoring younger officers becomes extremely important. Mentoring can either allow corruption to spread, or it can be also be nipped in the bud. With these issues at hand, it is important that law enforcement agencies invest in upstanding supervisors and leaders in their departments because according to statistics, leaders have a significant impact in preventing corruption and therefore play a significant role in the agencies in which they serve. Therefore, it becomes imperative that effective leaders – who share the same goals – be in place to set the standard for subordinates to see and emulate (Martin 2011). However; while leaders certainly play a critical role in forming the future leaders and overall atmosphere of the organization, they alone cannot ensure that high levels
On many instances there are a number of known leaders in the history of UK policing who have provide a motivational pedestal for the employees and the impacts of the same travelled a long way and kept the police department proud for times to come. The role of leadership is related to the motivation level of the organization.
Leaders in criminal justice system face myriad of issues that require subtle leadership skills. Particularly, criminal justice system has faced increased challenges emanating from the issues of youth violence, the three-strike legislation as well as surge in the level of drugs in communities. This report seeks to explore the issues and analyze them from the perspective of a criminal justice leader. Besides, the report will highlight various leadership theories that will help the criminal justice system to deal with the emerging issues. The main objective of this report is to identify various theories that influence leadership styles especially amid such issues as drugs and youth violence within the context of criminal justice administration. The research is important in the sense that it will provide results that will provide
All organizations, especially law enforcement agencies, require leadership. Maintaining a dependable leadership structure is key to the success of any organization. The philosophy of the modern style of police leadership involves a leader who is strong, competitive and unreceptive to change. Police leadership is based from an autocratic style which is founded on integrity and courage, embracing teamwork, involvement and shared leadership (Cordner & Scarborough, 2010). This style of leadership works well in an emergency situation in which rapid decision making and strict control is needed. The negative aspect to this style of leadership is the inability of the organization to function with the absence of leadership.
- exploitative authoritative: the leader has a low concern for people and uses such methods as threats and other fear-based methods to achieve conformance
All organizations, especially law enforcement agencies, require leadership. Having a dependable leadership is the key to having a very successful organization. Positive leadership in the police force is something that is very important to our community and country today. Leadership is members of an organization use their energies appropriately and morally and achieving a common goal. For someone to be a positive leader one must put the department’s goals ahead of fulfilling his personal needs of achievement.
When discussing leadership within the law enforcement profession is it vital to take the human factors into consideration. There are multiple human factors that the law enforcement leaders must take note of, such as, family issues, financial issues, stress, health, and morale. These human factors that play an important role for law enforcement in general can impact morale, officer safety and the public perception. When addressing the human factors, “Law enforcement leaders should challenge themselves and their employees to increase safety margins by focusing on human factors. By doing so, they will improve proactive communication at their level of influence and develop an organizational culture that values safety and wellness” (Bone, D., Normore,
“Lack of leadership competency is often the most critical obstacle to successful police projects” (Yang, 2012, p. 535).
There are many theories about different aspects of leadership and the effectiveness of each in a criminal justice setting. Contemporary research brings into focus the behavioral approach and the contingency approach. The behavioral approach emphasizes the behavior of leaders while the contingency approach emphasizes situational variables that affect leadership.