How to Elevate Your Agency: 7 Concrete Steps for Police Leaders

These are undeniably challenging times for law enforcement. As leaders, the wellbeing of your officers and community rests heavily on your shoulders. The path forward requires courage, compassion, and a commitment to progress.

These methods have been honed through decades of policing experience, data analysis, and community engagement. Our aim is to provide pragmatic, real-world guidance tailored for the policing context.

Implementing these recommendations will unlock greater accountability and trust between police and citizens. It begins with empowering your officers through targeted support. By investing in their growth, you enable them to better serve community needs.

The strategies outlined below are designed to be practical, scalable, and impactful. They represent an evolution in policing, upholding both safety and justice. With commitment and consistency, you can transform your agency for the better.

1. Prioritize De-Escalation Training

The most fundamental responsibility of a police officer is protecting human life. To fulfill this duty, officers must have robust de-escalation skills to defuse tensions during volatile incidents.

Research shows that comprehensive de-escalation training significantly reduces uses of force. For example, the Louisville Metro Police Department saw a 23% drop in serious uses of force after instituting de-escalation education.

Key elements of effective training include:

Verbal tactics to calm agitated individuals
Strategies for extracting safely from dangerous situations
Bias and cultural awareness
Crisis intervention for mental health emergencies
Practical scenario-based exercises

By honing de-escalation abilities, you equip officers with tools to resolve encounters peacefully. This creates safer outcomes for all involved.

“De-escalation training should be woven into the fabric of every police department. It provides officers with the skills to protect life, even when facing uncooperative subjects.” – Chief David Brown, Dallas Police Department

2. Implement Early Intervention Systems

Early intervention systems (EIS) are data-based programs that flag officers exhibiting potentially problematic behaviors. These officers then receive tailored support services to get them back on track.

Multiple studies confirm that early intervention enhances conduct, reduces citizen complaints, and boosts community relations.

To maximize impact:

Identify concerning indicators like use of force incidents and citizen grievances.
Follow up with structured mentoring, training, and counseling.
Track progress over time.

With vigilance and care, you can intervene before small issues become major problems. EIS allows you to support your officers while building community trust.

“By detecting patterns early, we can give officers the tools they need to succeed. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” – Chief Art Acevedo, Houston Police Department

3. Foster Procedural Justice Within Your Agency

Procedural justice focuses on the way police interact with citizens, emphasizing fairness, transparency, voice, and impartiality.

Studies reveal that when officers demonstrate procedural justice, community members view the police as more legitimate and are more likely to cooperate and comply. This dynamic holds true across racial/ethnic groups.

You can cultivate procedural justice through:

Policies that convey respect for human dignity.
Training that develops emotional intelligence.
Hiring officers oriented towards service over domination.
Leadership that models integrity.
Disciplining misconduct swiftly and consistently.

By weaving procedural justice into the fabric of your agency, you strengthen community relations from within.

“Procedural justice must be the core philosophy that informs everything we do. When officers show compassion, they defuse tension on the street.” – Commissioner William Gross, Boston Police Department

4. Implement Guardianship Training

Police officers fill dual roles as both guardians and enforcers. The guardian mindset prioritizes protection over punishment.

Research reveals that officers who embrace guardianship have significantly fewer use of force incidents. They excel at de-escalation and demonstrate procedural justice consistently.

You can instill the guardian mindset through:

Training on ethical policing, crisis intervention, and bias awareness.
Rewards for resolving incidents without force.
Repeated messaging from leadership on the guardian role.
Hiring officers with emotional intelligence.
Partnering rookie officers with seasoned guardians.

Guardianship training helps officers balance enforcement duties with compassion for the communities they serve.

“Every interaction officers have is an opportunity to be guardians, not warriors. This mentality must be embedded department-wide.” – Chief Medaria Arradondo, Minneapolis Police Department

5. Engage the Community as Partners

Police achieve their mandate only with community cooperation. To secure this essential assistance, departments must engage citizens as true partners.

Methods for community engagement include:

Establishing citizen advisory councils to give recommendations.
Incorporating community input when revising policies.
Partnering with advocacy groups to co-produce public safety initiatives.
Regularly meeting with community leaders to exchange perspectives.
Participating in neighborhood events to build familiarity.
Publishing data and outcomes to demonstrate transparency.

Through collaboration, police and citizens can co-produce security, trust, and mutual understanding.

“By genuinely partnering with the community, we make policing more just, responsive, and safe for all.” – Chief Eddie Garcia, Dallas Police Department

6. Invest in Integrated Officer Health Resources

Officer wellness and safety enables effective community protection. Conversely, unwell officers generate public mistrust through problematic behavior.

Robust officer health resources should address:

Mental Health

Destigmatizing seeking counseling
Access to confidential therapy
Peer support programs

Physical Fitness

Gym memberships
Activity incentives
Annual fitness benchmarks

Substance Abuse

Drug and alcohol treatment
Support groups
Random testing

Financial Wellness

Credit counseling
Retirement planning
Budgeting assistance

By caring for your officers holistically, you empower them to actualize your department’s highest ideals.

“Officer health is integral to public safety. When we support our officers, they can better support the community.” – Commissioner Michael Harrison, Baltimore Police Department

7. Measure and Incentivize Performance Over Arrests

What gets measured gets managed. To shift policing culture, departments must measure and reward positive behaviors that align with organizational values.

Potential metrics include:

Use of de-escalation tactics
Citizen satisfaction rates
Complaint reductions
Participation in community events
Completion of crisis intervention training

Conversely, incentivizing arrests can encourage overly aggressive enforcement that corrodes community trust. The key is promoting conduct that upholds safety and dignity.

By directing your officers’ focus towards virtuous actions, your department becomes more just, legitimate, and honorable.

“Forward-thinking departments measure what matters – constitutional policing, strong community bonds, officer wellness. Realigning incentives is crucial for progress.” – Chief Danielle Outlaw, Philadelphia Police Department

Distinguished police leaders, the path forward requires courage, compassion, and community partnership. With vision and perseverance, your department can become a national model for ethical, effective policing. Your officers can exemplify all that is noble in the law enforcement calling. And your community can become safer and more just for all who dwell within it.

Leveraging Officer Survey for Deeper Insights

Officer Surveys are an invaluable tool for police managers seeking candid feedback from their officers. By surveying force members anonymously, agencies gain crucial insights around morale, concerns, and department culture.

Potential survey topics include leadership, internal communications, workload, equipment, training, and more. Well-crafted surveys with open-ended questions allow officers to surface issues and suggest improvements. We offer hundreds of free survey questions which you can find under the “template” section of our home page.

Analyzing survey results enables agencies to:

Pinpoint problem areas needing attention.
Benchmark employee satisfaction across divisions.
Assess impact of new policies and programs.
Highlight positive aspects worth celebrating.
Bring employee concerns directly to leadership.
Incorporate officer perspectives into decision-making.

Overall, Officer Surveys demonstrate that management genuinely cares about the wellbeing and opinions of personnel. This boosts officer buy-in for new initiatives, driving successful implementation.

In summary, regularly soliciting confidential feedback directly from officers allows police managers to uncover concerns within the ranks. Survey data then empowers leadership to address these issues through targeted strategies, spurring organizational improvement.