Cambridge MA -- Policing has always been complicated, but changes in the operating environment are making it ever more complex. Complex challenges do not have straightforward fixes, and applying tried and tested policing solutions can be ineffective. Innovation, experimentation, and adaptation are required, and the police organization often needs to learn new ways of operating to address complex concerns. This means that while police departments certainly need effective formal leaders, they also need a culture of learning that allows shared leadership to thrive.
A new report - ‘Toward a Profession of Police Leadership’ – is being released from the Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety (2008-14) at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS). Written by criminal justice experts Edward A. Flynn and Victoria Herrington, this report explores current approaches to developing police leadership and critiques the emphasis on training individual leaders. Drawing on national and international examples, the authors suggest ways in which leadership throughout the organization might be better developed and encourage police departments to think about more than formal leaders when considering leadership.
‘Toward a Profession of Police Leadership’ (pdf) is published as part of the New Perspectives in Policing series from the Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety under the auspices of Harvard Kennedy School’s Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management (PCJ) and the National Institute of Justice (NIJ).
Edward A. Flynn is Chief of Police in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and former Secretary of Public Safety, Massachusetts. During his career Chief Flynn has also led the Springfield, Massachusetts and Arlington, Virginia Police Departments. Victoria Herrington is Director of Research and Learning at the Australian Institute of Police Management (AIPM). Herrington has worked extensively during the last 20 years as an applied policing scholar throughout the United Kingdom and Australia.