Leadership Reflected in Public Safety
Byron T. Williams
PSF8602-Theories of Leadership
Dr. Bob McNamara
Capella University
January 11, 2010
Abstract
Although many definitions have been offered for leadership, most contain certain
common elements. A distillation of these elements suggests that leadership can be
defined as a process through which a person tries to persuade organizational members to
do something that a person desires. Transformational leadership, a broader concept than
charisma, implies reshaping entire strategies of an organization (although the terms
charisma and transformational leadership overlap to an extent in highlighting the
influence of leader’s personal attributes and the trust of followers). Pseudo-
transformational and transforming leadership elevates the goals of subordinates and
enhances their self-confidence to strive for higher goals. In law enforcement and security
recruitment and training are prevalent and affect this organizations.
Leadership Reflected in Public Safety
Recruitment has relevance in the law enforcement and security field. Recruitment
provides an understanding of pseudo-transformational and transforming leadership.
Leadership creates requirements and guidelines for recruits. All agencies require recruits
to pass physical fitness tests, and the agencies check to see if applicants have criminal
records. Agencies increasingly require requites to undergo psychological evaluations
because each officer will ultimately make important discretionary decisions, including
those that may determine life and death in stressful situations (Langworthy, Hughes, &
Sanders, 1995: 26).
One factor is compensation. Leaders must require recruits to buy into the public
safety environment. One factor is compensation. The average starting salary in 2003 was
$35, 162 plus the likelihood of overtime pay (BJS, 2004g). Federal agencies and others
that provide good compensation and benefits tend to attract larger numbers of applicants.
Limited budgets can cause rural sheriffs’ departments, by contrast, to have a difficult
time recruiting a competitive applicant pool. In these cases, pseudo-transformational and
transforming leadership will have to be strong. Such departments may recruit outstanding
officers who want to live in a particular rural community, but more attractive
compensation packages in other agencies may also lure their current employees away.
Pseudo-transformational leadership and transforming leadership in law
enforcement and security are reflected in training programs. The performance of the law
enforcement and security official are not based solely on the types of people recruited;
their training shapes leadership. Most states require preservice training for all recruits.
This is often a formal course at the law enforcement or security academy, but in some
states candidates for law enforcement and security jobs must complete a basic training
program, at their own expense, before being considered for employment. Large
departments generally run their own programs, although state law enforcement and
security academies may train their own officers as well as recruits from municipal units.
Candidates for positions in rural and small-town units may have to pay their own
way through training programs at community colleges to receive the necessary
certification to become a law enforcement or security officer. The courses range from
two-week sessions that stress the handling of weapons to academic four-month programs
followed by fieldwork. Recruits hear lectures on social relations, receive foreign-
language training, and learn emergency medical treatment.
Transformational leadership is potentially strongest at the highest levels of
management. This view underscores the importance of vision, intellectual stimulation,
and individual consideration in leadership, and the major role that leadership can have
during times of change and crisis. Pseudo-transformational and transforming leadership
elevates the goals of subordinates and enhances their self-confidence to strive for higher
goals. In law enforcement and security recruitment and training are prevalent and affect
this organizations.
Reference
BJS (Bureau of Justice Statistics). (2004g). Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics.
Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Langworthy, R. H., Hughes, T. & Sanders, B. (1995). Law enforcement Recruitment
Selection and Training: A survey of Major Police Departments. Highland
Heights, ILL: Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.
