Police Leadership Styles

Leadership is a crucial element in successfully managing a company. Police officers of all ranks function as leaders when they attempt to obtain compliance or cooperation from other persons when performing a task, solving a problem, or accomplishing a goal. Patrol officers, investigators, and other personnel act as leaders when dealing with victims, suspects, informers, witnesses and often when they are involved in community policing and problem solving. Supervisors, managers and executives function as leaders when they organize, plan and evaluate police activities and motivating employees. In this essay the five types of leadership autocratic, bureaucratic, diplomatic, participative and free-rein will be discussed as well as their effectiveness

In organizations, leaders organize individual behavior toward a common purpose. Leaders are trained to understand individual and group needs, as well as the factors that will motivate individuals to produce results. They encourage, praise, punish, teach and reward individuals and groups in a complex process of influencing behavior. When dealing with employees each team member is different and has a different work ethic and different response to the critics and praise given by the leader. In police settings, often times the leader is formally charged to conduct the leadership role or they assume the role informally. Leaders have the authority to lead, they have been granted that right and they have the power to exercise their authority while performing their duty. This is the mission statement designed for police chiefs. “Authority is the legitimate right to lead and influence people, while “power” is the capacity to lead. Power and authority are like sisters. Individuals are granted legitimacy to the power of the force to guide their actions. Without this, power dissolves or it must be continually exercised in order to gain compliance. Often times, police leaders seek out legitimate authority in police settings. Leadership styles are determined based on the needs of the police departments as well as how effective the style will be. Leadership styles that work well in the day to

Leadership roles can vary based on the leader. In policing, the leadership roles may vary daily depending on the demands of the department. Autocratic leadership is a “by the books” a “my way or the highway” leader. Research has proven this to be the least effective leadership style. Bureaucratic leaders lead by example and encourage employees to have an opinion on the day to day operations. In policing, this is the most effective leadership style. Diplomatic, participative and free-rein leaders are more relaxed leaders. They considered their employees to be “family” and treated them equally as if they are a leader also. These types of leadership have both positive and negative consequences depending on the situation and the effectiveness of the