One of the easiest, and most effective things forward-thinking police leaders can do to advance their organizations is expand their own personal knowledge base about our rapidly changing world. Key business leaders do this by reviewing articles in publications that focus on innovation and organizational development. They’re doing this, of course, because they have a desire to increase the profitability of their companies. Police leaders don’t have the same profit motive as captains of industry, but they do have a similar need for innovation and organizational development. Their “bottom line” is the effective control of crime and the trust and confidence their community places in them and their officers.

Almost all the technological advances powering so many of today’s changes emanate from the corporate world. Although the private sector creates these technologies, policing either consumes them like everybody else or is directly affected by them. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a compelling example. Today, policing is directly affected by AI. Some of the impacts are beneficial and some much less so. Whatever the impact of AI is on policing today, it pales in comparison to the near future implications for policing as the “AI arms race” between nations and companies continues to accelerate at a breathtaking rate.

Recently, the Harvard Business Review (HBR) ran an article helping business leaders better understand their adoption of AI[1]. This is an example of the type of non-policing resource police leaders should consider to help them expand their conceptual horizons. The article encouraged business leaders to be very thoughtful about their pursuit of AI tools, ensuring they first become clear about the problems they are trying to solve before they adopt expensive Generative AI technologies. This may appear an obvious first step. But in the tough, dog-eat-dog of fast-changing industries, there is immense pressure to innovate to increase profit. This is analogous to the situations many police chiefs encounter, when, in the face of rising crime, they encounter great community or political pressure to cut crime rates. In these cases, the temptation to immediately implement an innovative approach or technology is great and may lead to strategies or technology acquisitions not in alignment with desired public safety outcomes.

Forward-thinking police leaders know what they don’t know. As such, they take steps to develop at least a rudimentary understanding of the things likely to have a profound impact on them and their agencies. They also understand that they should look outside their profession, to other leadership knowledge sources – like the HBR article - to see how business leaders are dealing with similar issues. They then “displace” business concepts, dragging them across boundaries from business to policing. This is similar to the way public health models for controlling disease were displaced into the criminal justice system as violence prevention models. Thinking of gun violence, for instance, as a public health crisis (in addition to being a crime issue) means new understanding, resources and innovations can be developed.

Policing has experienced dramatic challenges in recent years. With that comes increased dependence on technology. Thus, the HBR article's insights, once displaced, resonate strongly in today's policing environment. As police departments face a wide breadth of challenges, selecting the appropriate technology is fundamental to success and enhancing the public’s trust and confidence. Police leaders, like their business counterparts, are increasingly being drawn in by the lure of sophisticated analytical tools - like AI - to address complex issues in crime prevention, resource allocation and community engagement. However, to take an effective approach, police leaders should first begin with an understanding of what the specific problems they hope to address are (e.g., crime reductions, building public trust or optimizing operational efficiency, etc.). By first identifying the problems to be addressed, then approaching technology as a solution, innovative technologies can be deployed that are understandable, and supported, by elected leaders and community members.

Transitioning towards technologically empowered policing requires a deliberate and thorough approach, informed by an in-depth knowledge of policing’s unique challenges and responsibilities. Adopting a problem-first mindset, and rigorously examining technological solutions’ suitability for use, will pave the way toward future technology adoption that enhances policing effectiveness while building public trust and creating safer communities. Displacing the strategy as outlined in the HBR article aligns perfectly with the core values of effective future policing and building strong police-community relationships.

About the authors

FPI Fellow Kristen Mahoney, JD, is the Director for Policy, Government and Partner Engagement at the University of Chicago’s Crime Lab> Read her full bio here. Jim Bueermann is the President of the Future Policing Institute. Read his full bio here.

Note

[1] “Find the AI Approach That Fits the Problem You’re Trying to Solve,” George Westerman, Sam Ransbotham, Chiara Farronato, Feb. 6, 2024, Harvard Business Review (online).