violent crimes, car accidents, finding missing people, and reviving individuals who overdose on illegal narcotics (Issit, 2021). These tasks only scratch the surface of what law enforcement officers may experience within a day, let alone their entire careers. Although law enforcement officers put their lives on the line for their community daily, American citizens distrust law enforcement (Issit, 2021). In response to the distrust, citizens and politicians have called for defunding law enforcement and policy change. One must first explore law enforcement to understand how leadership can impact job satisfaction, organizational culture, and job performance within criminal investigations units. One must explore the history of law enforcement, …show more content…
Pinkerton was a Scottish immigrant who came to the United States in 1842. Pinkerton’s entrance into investigations came along by accident when he identified a counterfeit ring near his place of business. Pinkerton conducted independent surveillance and provided evidence to local law enforcement to make the arrests of the gang. The recognition Pinkerton received from his work allowed him to make his entry into professional law enforcement. Pinkerton worked for multiple local law enforcement agencies and the United States Postal Service for approximately eight years until 1850, when he left public service to enter the private sector (Issit, 2021). The development of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency changed investigations in the United States (Issit, 2021). Pinkerton hired the first African American investigator and woman investigator to work for the agency. Pinkerton also developed a photo database that included jail photographs of all the individuals involved in arrests he made. The database was called the Rogues Gallery (Issit, 2021). The gallery provided an opportunity for sharing intelligence and led to the resolution of many cases, thereby attracting more clients for …show more content…
The lack of leadership and the issues, both internal and external, have led to a decreased number of qualified applicants for law enforcement agencies and an increased number of law enforcement officers leaving the career field (Hilal & Litsey, 2020). Transformational Leadership in Law Enforcement Strong leaders are needed within law enforcement to help guide the officers who serve, protect the community, and ensure the best performance (Firdausyah & Ashraff, 2021). Alsuwaidi and Mansor (2021) and Thomas and Cangemi (2021) have shown that law enforcement agencies effectively utilize Transformational leadership, demonstrating its crucial role in the agency's success. Transformational leaders motivate subordinates to meet goals with a shared vision. For transformational leadership to be effective, there must be buy-in from the subordinates, who must be committed to and share the agency/leader’s goals and mission. Once there is a shared mission and vision, the leader can motivate the followers, help them grow, and bring change to the