Police Leadership 2.0.: A comprehensive systematic review of the literature

PurposePolicing scholars have largely ignored the workgroup dynamics of police command staffs. These officers work closely at the top of police organizations, promoting strategic objectives and overseeing significant changes. As leaders, emotional regulation is critical to the maintenance of internal and external relationships. Only a few research studies address emotional intelligence (EI) among police leaders. The current study combines these two issues to examine whether emotionally intelligent leaders report better perceptions of workgroup fit with their respective command staffs.Design/methodology/approachUsing a survey of 304 United States (US) command staff officers attending the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) National Academy (NA), the authors apply person-environment fit theory and test several hypotheses using structural equation modeling.FindingsCommand staff officers with better EI report significantly better perceptions of workgroup fit, suggesting that they may be better equipped to navigate the command staff workgroup dynamics in this complex environment that demands high emotional regulation. Workgroup fit was also significantly higher among higher ranking officers and among officers racialized as White.Originality/valueFew studies have addressed perceptions of workgroup fit among command staff officers, and little attention has been given to the concept of EI. The authors add to these two important areas of research and provide evidence that emotional intelligence is an important characteristic for leaders when considering how well command staffs work together. This finding may have implications for the efficacy of agencies to facilitate change efforts or to carry out daily operations.

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emotional intelligence as a predictor of workgroup fit among police leaders

White,

Schafer

2023

Police leaders’ perspectives on their ability to support employee wellbeing in Australia: lack of time, training or support?

Sharafizad,

Hernandez Grande,

Farr-Wharton

2024

PurposePolicing organizations in Australia are increasingly expected to eliminate or mitigate psychosocial risks in the workplace to promote employee wellbeing. New leadership skills are required, as police leaders play a key role in supporting the physical and mental health of their staff. This study aims to investigate police leaders’ perceptions about their ability to support employee wellbeing, and the ways in which they would like their organization to equip them for this important task.Design/methodology/approachQualitative thematic analysis was conducted on the narratives provided by 156 Australian police leaders in response to a series of open-ended questionnaire questions.FindingsDrawing on the conservation of resources theory, the themes identified indicate that police leaders are hindered in their ability to support the wellbeing of their staff by their own increasing workload in a context of reduced resourcing, the continuing stigma around mental health issues, a lack of knowledge and skills about how to support employee wellbeing and a lack of support from senior management.Practical implicationsOverall, the study highlights the way in which new work, health and safety guidelines place additional responsibilities on police leaders for which many report not feeling prepared. Findings suggest that bespoke leadership training may be required to assist police leaders in supporting the mitigation of psychosocial hazards in the workplace.Originality/valueConsidering continuously evolving psychosocial safety guidelines, this paper makes a unique contribution to contemporary knowledge by focusing on the role and readiness of police leaders in Australia to lessen the psychological impact of police work on officers in an increasingly complex policing context. Additionally, practical implications and recommendations are discussed and offered.

Women police leaders: attitudes about policing and experiences in the occupation

Schuck,

Rabe-Hemp

2024

PurposeThis study explored women police leaders’ (n = 503) attitudes and experiences relative to men police leaders (n = 3,359) and women police officers (n = 1,153) with no supervisory responsibilities.Design/methodology/approachSelf-reported survey data were collected from 5,015 officers in 85 United States law enforcement agencies.FindingsCompared with men police leaders, women police leaders were more likely to identify inequalities in the workplace, empower community members’ voices in defining legitimate forms of policing, elevate the importance of police misconduct and reject a tough physical approach. Women police leaders were also more likely than male police leaders to think that effective leadership influences the behavior of subordinates and more likely to feel that the rules leave room for interpretation. Black women police leaders reported different attitudes and experiences than White women police leaders, including recognizing greater inequalities, prioritizing increased law enforcement activities and experiencing less occupational burnout. Except for the seriousness of misconduct, there were no differences between women police leaders and women police officers without supervisory responsibilities.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the ongoing conversation about women in policing and how increasing the number of women in leadership roles affects law enforcement agencies and the public’s experiences with policing. As policing continues to face calls for reform and employment challenges, increasing the number of women in leadership plays a vital role in producing law enforcement agencies that are equitable and efficacious.