PRESENT PRACTICES IN POLICE LEADERSHIP

The literature indicates that present leadership practices are mixed throughout various police organizations.  The researchers suggest that present police leadership practices are either the same as they always have been or changing.   

Fyfe, et al. (1997), notes that present police leadership still resembles a military style of leadership.  Silverstri (2007) agrees there is minimal verification that police leadership practices are shifting.  Most police organizations continue to foster their centralized culture through the use of hierarchy and rank.  This in and of itself continues to produce quasi-militaristic officers who are disciplined and follow orders within a bureaucracy. 

This type of control reminds officers that they are just subordinates and have a distinct place within the organization.  Silvestri (2007) emphasizes that today’s police leadership is unwilling to share information within the organization and rarely allows others to participate in decision-making opportunities.  The philosophy of the twenty-first century police leader is one of being strong, assertive, competitive, performance based and unreceptive to change.  

Conversely, Wuestewald & Steinheider (2006) report police leadership is progressively developing from an autocratic, centralized style that was based on wisdom, integrity and courage to that of one that embraces teamwork, involvement, and shared leadership.  The researchers assert that police organizations are allowing more supervision from the bottom up and less direct control.  “Modern police administration is more about ‘winning the hearts and minds’ of the police force,” claimed Skogan & Hartnett (as cited in Steinheider & Wuestewald, 2008).  This philosophy was a by-product of the concept of community policing.  According to the International Association of Chiefs of Police [IACP] (1999), the use of a participatory leadership style has taken root because command and control have damaged productivity and morale. 

As one can see, there are varying opinions on whether police leadership has really changed or remained the same.  The literature points to different styles of leadership as being the crux for change.