Leadership in Criminal Justice Essay

There have been numerous theories surrounding leadership, which attempt to explain which form is most effective in the workplace. A universalistic approach was once used to rationalize leadership and it was believed that successful leaders possessed certain common abilities and traits. However, today due to external factors such as globalization and advanced technologies, there has been an evolution towards a new paradigm of leadership. Subordinates want to feel empowered and engaged at the workplace and often the behaviors and relationships between leaders and their subordinates become important to understand in order to fully understand effective leadership. Contingency theories have been developed in which people began to look at the behavior of leaders in specific situations. Two such contingency theories are: Path-Goal and Hershey and Blanchard’s Situational Theory.

The criminal justice system is one of the most important components in the public service system. Since it is a system that citizens encounter daily it would be most beneficial for those who are employed to behave as ethical leaders. Leadership skills and ethical behavior are both parts of the duties of any officer serving the law. Often employees are placed in quick decision situations that can have fatal outcomes if not handled properly. By ensuring that all officers of the law have a set of functioning ethical leadership skills can not only develop a well-rounded individual, but also builds the relationship between the community they serve to protect. The police and other officers of the law have great discretion and power over an individual which makes having responsible, ethically behaving persons on the front lines even more important. With the right training and education, ethical officers can set the bar and improve the quality of life of the community they serve as well as other officers.

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.

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

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.

America’s justice system has come a long way. It is because of the great leadership of our forefathers that brought us this far. There are several traits a great leader must exhibit, and one is innovation. Innovative leaders specifically in America’s criminal justice history and their actions, created the modern justice system that lives on today. This paper will profile one of the great leaders in American law enforcement history. It examines the leadership qualities that made Chief August Vollmer an influential leader. This paper will also discuss several events from his life that showcase his innovative traits.

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

Therefore, a leader must be very apt to understand human nature and know his surroundings, including the types of environment and individuals within an entire criminal justice organization. However, leaders in criminal justice organizations have many limitations. oftentimes, leaders are faced with critical situations such as riots and protests, which require for them to justify their actions in front of the umbrella incorporated media. The literature of leadership in criminal justice organizations is rather prescriptive (Stojkovic et al., 2015).

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

This paper will describe my understanding of the text and of the lectures provided in the class. Unlike most classes, where I understood only my view of the text, this class was geared so each student would understand each other’s view. 3 An organization is a collective that has some boundary and internal structure that engages in activities related to some complex set of goals. Members of organizations attempt to meet their psychological, ego and emotional needs within the organization. Criminal justice organizations are particularly unique compared to other public or private sector organizations because of the governmental granted authority. Management within these organizations can be defined as the process by

The role of the follower and the quality of the relationship itself are informally negotiated between followers and their leaders over time (Gils, Quaquebeke, & Knippenberg, 2009). Based on the LMX theory, leaders build a special relationship with an inner circle, or “in-group”, of followers, who often get high levels of responsibility and access to resources. The in-group members work harder and are more committed to task objectives. They are also expected to be totally committed and loyal to their leader. Conversely, other followers fall in the “out-group" and are given low levels of choice or influence. Aggression, sarcasm and a self-centered view are qualities seen in the out-group. The quality of the LMX relationship varies and is better when the challenge of the job is extremely high or extremely low (Graen et al., 1982).

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).

Organizational effectiveness can mean many things for different organizations, from making sales to managing employees and even time and data management. Within the criminal justice organization it is much more important than just making sure the criminal justice agency is merely operating properly. Achieving and maintaining efficient productivity, performance values, and efficiency are crucial in order for any organization to be successful (Mihalicz, 2012). Applying the theories of organizational effectiveness to the management aspect of criminal justice organizations and personnel will help supervisors and

It is interesting to dwell on the fact that Frankl’s book is considered to be the foundational reading for leadership in law enforcement. Man’s Search For Meaning helps people to understand that it is not as hard to be a leader as it seems to be, because any