On Leadership"One of the most damaging characteristics of American policing is still the turnover of its leaders. Every new mayor in most American cities begins his or her term with a new police chief. Instead of building on what has been learned from year to year, and the office of the chief of police being occupied by a professionally trained administrator, all is often lost after a municipal mayoral election. A “new broom” does sweep clean, but it also sweeps away a lot of an organization’s learning—both good and bad. If policing is ever be a profession, it will have to develop a system of sustained leadership…" Principles of Quality Leadership1. Believe in, foster and support TEAMWORK. |
Did Madison Police Improve? Did Reform Measures Work?![]() "What about my effort to change and improve department leadership? Did it happen? Was it effective? I needed to know the answers to these questions as well, not just from my gut, but from hard data. I decided to ask the National Institute of Justice to take a look at what we were doing and to give us some feedback to my two questions. The research contract was awarded to the Police Foundation in Washington, DC. After a three-year study, my questions were answered:
"The multiyear study examined the efforts undertaken by us to create a new organizational design—both structural and managerial, built to support community- and problem-oriented policing. Significantly, researchers found the department’s attempt to bring progressive, comprehensive change to our operations was successful:
"In the conclusion to their report they made a statement that I believe captures Madison’s twelve-year effort to improve the police function in their community: "Surely the most dramatic finding in this project is that it is possible to 'bend granite'…[I]t is possible to change a traditional, control- oriented police organization into one in which employees become members of work teams and participants in decision-making processes... This research suggests that associated with these internal changes are external benefits for citizens, including indications of reductions in crime and reduced levels of concern about crime." [i]Community Policing In Madison: Quality From the Inside, Out. Technical Report, Mary Ann Wycoff and Wesley G. Skogan. Washington: Police Foundation. 1993. |