Name:
Professor:
Course:
Date
Factors that mold the police culture
A leadership culture is a combination of skills, traits and behaviors that leaders draw on when they are interacting with clients. For an individual to favor and support a leadership culture, he has to understand the origin of that leadership culture. In the history of law enforcement, police officers have used various police culture to enforce the law. It has evolved within last few years in many countries to a more participative style than it was in the past. This leadership style among police is distinguishable from other occupational groups as leaders from those groups still cling to an antiquated domineering culture. The main purpose for this study is to discuss the factors that mold the police culture and distinguish it from other occupational groups.
The origin of the present police culture can be traced back to English Parliament. In 1929, the English Parliament passed the Metropolitan Police Act which created the London Metropolitan Police. As Loftus (29) notes, police culture later became the model for American policing. The above model of policing has its foundation in a bureaucratically controlled and highly centralized command. That leadership culture instituted a hierarchical dictatorial organization that implanted impersonality in the police structure.
Incorporation of a scientific management component into the police bureaucratic-efficiency model also shapes and molds police culture. Scientific management component in police leadership culture gives police officers total control in their organization through an inflexible, and a centralized chain of command structure so as to attain an organizational efficiency. Unlike other occupational groups where leadership promotions depend on personal characteristics they provide as leaders, based on this model, police officers promotions depend on experience and longevity. The model gives more emphasis on top leadership and neglects bottom level officers. Officers at the bottom level have no authority to make decisions on their own; they only acts on commands from their seniors on when, what and how to perform their tasks.
The unselfish service and respectable personality police have in their organization and employees is yet another factor that molds their culture. The personality of police officers plays an important role in the way they perform their duties. Police personality is a combination of characteristics that classify their individual behaviors. In other occupational groups, personality negatively influences leadership conduct, attitudes and insight. Police officers understand their personalities well. This helps them to forecast their job performance and behaviors of the people they serve.
The ability to use human talents to increase integrity, performance and trust in their organization and in people they serve is very influential and also shapes the police culture. Based on this factor, police officers recognize the importance of delegation and understand the need for urgency and the willingness of considering autocracy and other alternatives. The police leadership has changed over the decades. At some point, it was classified as Laissez-Faire Autocratic or Democratic. According to Crank (24) states that autocratic culture centers on giving orders to police officers to carry out a given task faster. With this leadership culture, officers only act on instructions meant to guide them on what to carry out, when to do it, how to perform it, and they are then watched to ensure they do it well. Laissez-Faire leadership culture trained police officers to make decisions, but it did not give guidance on how to do it. Democratic culture encourages involvement in decision making, and facilitates fair discussion in order for everyone to understand what to do, and then permits them to perform their duties without supervision. The leadership in other occupational groups primarily focuses on protecting power.
Works Cited
Crank, John. “Understanding Police Culture.” Belmont, CA: Roxbury Publishing, 2004. Print.
Loftus, Bethan. “Police Culture in a Changing World.” Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Print.
