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Abstract
Organizational success is the ultimate goal for any organization. This is particularly important for law enforcement organizations because their success, or lack thereof, ultimately impacts the communities being served. Unfortunately, this success can be derailed by the types of leadership skills utilized within the departments. This paper aims to examine the history of law enforcement and explain how this history has impacted leaders in the organizations in a way that has led to a lack of trust and engagement for frontline officers as well as community members. The goal of this paper is to identify specific skills that can be implemented by superiors. These skills will have positive impacts on subordinates and, in return, the community.
Keywords: Law enforcement, leadership, trust, engagement, organizational success
The entire foundation of most law enforcement organizations encompasses leadership styles that do not necessarily incorporate trust within the many bureaucratic levels that involve officers. This lack of trust within has been known to spill over into the communities in which they serve, creating a firm line between the general public and those who serve to protect them. This can be seen within the media all across the United States as protests have erupted and pleas have been made to defund police departments. A plethora of literature suggests leaders should be authentic, transparent, genuine, and consistent as this will impact how front line officers police the communities of which they serve. Literature pertaining to law enforcement within the United States will be explored throughout this paper, and recommendations will be made on how to transition to incorporate such styles.
Successful and impactful leaders incorporate great communication skills in which subordinates are involved in the decision-making processes as well as any type of organizational change. These characteristics can be found in organizations with high success, low turnover, high engagement, great morale, and trusting atmospheres. It has not been typical for these characteristics to be encompassed within law enforcement organizations. These organizations are most generally equipped with leaders who have traditionally been known to display paternalistic leadership styles and, more recently, authoritarian styles, and this has spilled over into how front line officers carry out their duties. More notably, the history of law enforcement plays a vital role in the actions,...