Police Leadership Characteristics

As a result of the events of 9/11, law enforcement §personnel have been confronting significant changes §in their tasks. The need for effective leadership by §law enforcement personnel around the world has been §critical. This study analyzed the perceived §importance of leadership characteristics for law §enforcement personnel in a large American Police §Department to determine the most important §leadership characteristics, using the Law §Enforcement Leadership Characteristics Survey, two-§part questionnaire. The findings indicated that §while police personnel at all levels considered §honest, dependable, competent, and broad-minded to §be the most important leadership characteristics, §there were differences in the importance placed on §forward looking, ambitious, and loyal that were §related to their respective levels and/or §experience. Courageous was chosen as the least §important leadership characteristic by all level §personnel. The results of this study contribute to §leadership development programs and law enforcement §leadership literature.