Future Policing and Organizational Development
Police leaders today, and in the future, must go beyond simply “serving and protecting” their communities. Their responsibilities must also include leading their organizations to ensure they keep adapting and evolving with changing societal needs and events. They must prepare the people they leader are prepared to protect their communities in increasing uncertain times. Organizational development encompassing aspects such as organizational change, cultural transformation, leadership training and community integration are of utmost importance in preparing policing for an increasingly uncertain future.
As crime and community and political expectations change, police departments must adapt accordingly, recognizing that stagnation can damage both efficiency and community trust and confidence in the police. Organizational change ensures adaptability while cultural transformation aligns values with community desires and expectations. And community integration fosters collaboration and trust between police departments and their constituents.
Leadership development equips officers for future challenges and teaches them how to learn about the future. A sage Asian proverb captures leaders’ obligation to prepare their organizations to police in environments that do not exist today. It states, “If you give a man a fish, you feed him today. If you teach him how to fish, you feed him his entire life.” Similary, an unwaivering obligation of police leaders is to help their organizations develop a forward-leaning, anticipatory posture that enables them to operate in effective, empathetic and just ways, irrespective of the policing challenges or operational environments they face in the future.
Data-Driven Answers to Law Enforcement Staffing Considerations
Efficient and effective police officer staffing and scheduling should avoid speculation and assumptions about critical issues like personnel deployment. It should be based on data and stated organizational goals and objectives.
Succession Planning for Police Chiefs
Cities must thoughtfully engage in on-going succession planning for police chiefs if they want to ensure transformational culture change in their police deaprtments.
The business of policing
When most people think of policing they envision crime fighting strategies, car chases, use-of-force or police misconduct. And these are things that police leaders grapple with every day. But the less public part of policing is the “business of policing.” Budgets, personnel issues, purchasing, staffing, equipment and facility management are all important parts of keeping police organizations running.
What drives the cost of policing?
Why is policing so expensive? The drivers of policing costs encompass a wide breadth of topics and both organizational and social dynamics. The escalating cost of policing is not likely to slow in the future. Here we discuss some of the strategies police leaders and policymakers can use to identify their cost centers and the dynamics that force the price of policing ever higher.
Police Legitimacy Action Matrix
Understanding the current legitimacy state of a police organization is critical to leading its transformation to a “rightful” policing agency. This tool helps understand the current organizational state.