Law Enforcement Leadership: Factors that Contribute to Agency Success
Adam King
Liberty University
CJUS 840: Stress Management & Law Enforcement
Dr. Carolyn Dennis
2/21/2025
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FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO AGENCY SUCCESS
Abstract
Police leadership has taken a turn from militaristic beginnings. While this method of leadership
can still be found in police agencies worldwide, more variances have taken over. This leads
agency heads and the ones selecting them to choose the style they believe would lead the agency.
Authoritarian, transactional, and transformational leadership styles all have competing visions
for the best way to lead people. These people who are within any given agency work under a
chain of command structure. Police leaders rely on this chain of command to relay information
and ultimately push or pull the agency in the chosen direction via the chosen means. Maintaining
buy-in from all ranks of the agency is critical for any police leader to move the agency in a new
direction.
Keywords: Law Enforcement, leadership, chain of command, transactional, authoritarian,
transformational.
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Chapter II: Literature Review
Police agencies are more and more run in the way a CEO would run a business. Police
Chiefs and elected Sheriffs are the CEO’s of their police agency. Just as business-minded
executives have styles that they utilize to move their agenda through an organization, so does a
police CEO. New CEOs bring in their vision and may have sweeping policy changes that they
wish to implement inside the agency. Leaders bring differing styles to push their visions. They
may bring in an amicable attitude and attempt to motivate by their charisma. An alternative to
that could be an authoritarian regime that grabs power and expects subordinates to fall in line or
be punished. Police agencies are typically modeled after military methods. One such method is
the use of a chain of command. Police CEOs can use this chain to implement agendas as well.
The following literature review intends to compile academic thoughts and research on
studies referencing police leadership and agency success. This includes how officers react to
different leadership styles, how an agency CEO most effectively gets buy-in from subordinates,
and how the chain of command (COC) is used in this process. To further the understanding this
review will discuss what types of leaders and officers within the agency respond the most
positively towards. Once complete the reader should hold a deeper understanding of how agency
CEOs pass their agendas through an agency and how those within the agency respond to the
methods used by their CEO.
Search Strategy
Understanding what key terms are necessary, goes far when conducting a literature review.
Keywords and phrases that were utilized in the search for this paper include but were not limited to
police leadership, police management, leadership styles, agency success, police policy, and policy
implementation. The EBSCOhost, JSTOR, PROQUEST, and SAGE databases were utilized for
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articles. Google Scholar and the Jerry Falwell Library were queried for articles that were relevant
to the search. Dozens of sources were reviewed for ones that were relevant and current. Most of the
sources that were used were from within the last five years. An older source was used if the data
was specific and useful for a full contextual picture.
Police Leadership Styles
Historically, the police in the United States have been considered a militaristic arm of the
local executive branch. This unavoidable conclusion of historical policing methods has allowed a
similar style of police leadership to thrive in the culture of American police. As the civil rights
era passed a legitimacy crisis forced the police to adapt. This has given way to altering the
leadership styles among police agencies. Once the historical norms were broken, agencies were
able to clear a new path forward between them and their citizenry. Before the mid-20th century,
police had two main functions. The first was to maintain order of the electorate, and the second
was to impose their worldview. Reforms in policing in the 1970s allowed for police to begin
championing for themselves which saw the close of a one-size-fits-all all leadership style (Agee,
2020).
Before any inkling of the civil rights era, one policeman was shaping what it meant to be
a police chief. August Vollmer served as chief of police for Berkeley, California. He had
transformative ideas and considered police work to be social work. His leadership sought to
transform officers from brutal cops to empathetic ones. This idea was progressive in the 1930s
(Penn, 2020). Vollmer’s style would undoubtedly be considered a transformational style of
leadership. The more traditional style of the time would have been authoritarian leadership,
where all control would be vested in the Agency CEO. Transactional leaders establish a quid pro
quo relationship with subordinates where one does not hesitate to cut the lesser half once their
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usefulness has worn off. These three styles are all found within police agencies with varying
levels of success (Thomas, 2021).
Authoritarian
Authoritarian leaders expect results from subordinates. They will use dominance that
leads to those below them feeling controlled. This can lead to resentment of the leader, which
leads to retaliatory attitudes of subordinates. Those under authoritarian leadership often withdraw
and only care about their outcomes and not the agency (Schuh, 2013). Authoritarian leaders can
strip the autonomy of the employee by weeding out discretion. Workers under such conditions
are more likely to feel stress about their jobs. Authoritarian leadership tends to lead to harsh
deadlines and heavy workload expectations of the employees (Chen et al., 2024).
Leaders using authoritarian styles will demand that duties are fulfilled and that deadlines
are met. This can lead to the success of the agency. This drive for success can also cause the
leader to move the goalposts and push employees harder, which can cause strife for the
employees, eventually damaging outputs (Chen, 2024). Authoritarianism in a global setting has
been seen as beneficial in certain and narrow circumstances. It leads to the protection of scarce
resources and maintains, by force or free will, the culture. Applying those concepts to law
enforcement agencies could be argued that authoritarian leadership styles may be necessary to
obtain certain goals (Nettle & Saxe, 2021).
Transactional
Transactional leaders can treat goals and personnel like commodities to be traded. Just
like commodities, each of these aspects can be devalued or overvalued by the consumer.
Transactional leaders may offer a certain rank or promotion for the achievement of a
predetermined goal (Thomas, 2021). In this type of arrangement, those involved in the agency
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have very little power and are only bound by the promises made by the leader. Transactional
leaders utilize the proverbial carrot on a stick in the form of contingent rewards based on
performance. They also can be heavy managers and leave employees feeling as though they have
intense oversight during the performance of their jobs. This is due to the goal-oriented behavior
of transactional leaders (Swid, 2014).
Transformational
Transformational leaders are highly involved and move to shift employees abilities and
performance through inspiration. Effective police chiefs have been found to model behavior as
well as inspire their subordinates. They also strive to impart a supporting demeanor to their
officers. If a police chief can move the culture in the direction of the goal, then the agency will
begin to function efficiently toward that goal (Thomas, 2021). Transformational leadership
seems to take a toll on the officers. Data shows that once a tipping point is reached then officers
begin to feel burnout and stressors from transformational leadership. This could be from an
inability to measure up to expectations or the new expectations are not sustainable for officers
(Molines et al., 2020).
Accomplishing Buy-In
No matter the type of leadership style that the CEO employs, they must create agency
buy-in to effect change in the agency. Authoritarian leaders may force that buy-in, while
transactional and transformational will need to instill it in their workforce. Missteps in the non-
inclusion of those not in senior management and failure to create a strategic plan could lead to
failure of agency buy-in. New leaders also must be willing to push levers that could lead to
conflict. If a new leader is avoiding conflict, then their objectives may not be reached. Agencies
that actively seek feedback from employees will obtain investment from them. Employees that
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felt they were listened to and their ideas were considered were willing to fall in line with change
that came to the agency (Dubord & Griffiths, 2021).
Buy-in also occurs when personnel believe that the thing being changed is for the benefit
of the officer and not discipline. Early Intervention systems were studied, and agency acceptance
was understood. These systems have been developed to address officer behavior that could lead
to more serious issues. If officers understood the system to be discipline-oriented, they had
negative opinions and outcomes. If they believed it was wellness-oriented, then they approved of
the program. It came down to semantics and how the leadership pitched the program (Christoff
& Carleton, 2024). Body-worn camera policies have also had to be tackled in a new era of
policing. Police chiefs have had to pitch the benefits to officer safety and reducing frivolous
litigation with the implementation of body cameras. If done correctly officers have embraced
them. If not correctly implemented animosity and negative job performance have been seen
(Choi et al., 2024).
Biblical Worldview
Biblical leadership is not authoritarian, transformational, or transactional. The leadership
that is espoused in the Bible is that of a servant. Jesus tells his disciples as much in Matthew
20:26, “…whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants
to be first must be your slave.” (Christian Standard Bible, 2017). Jesus goes on to say that this is
exactly what the Son of Man did. Paul doubles down on this mindset in his letter to the church in
Philippi. He tells these early Christians that they should count others higher than themselves, and
they should hold the interest of others dearer.
On the flip side of being a boss is being an employee. When dealing with a bad boss
Jesus should be remembered. Jesus and God being one in the same it is settled theology that
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Jesus was all-knowing. This means he knew the plans that Judas was plotting. Even though he
knew the plot, he drew Judas into the inner circle. This isn’t to say an employee should let their
boss plot to kill, but it does emphasize grace. In another letter, Paul more directly deals with how
to be a good employee. He says that in whatever we do, we should do it as we are working for
the Lord (Christian Standard Bible, 2017).
Conclusion
Authoritarian, transactional, and transformational leadership styles all appear to have
some positive and negative attributes in agency performance. Each style also may lend itself
differently when accomplishing buy-in from agency personnel. An authoritarian take on
accomplishing buy-in could leave officers not understanding the new process and create
animosity. This would lead to negative effects and could collapse the efficacy of the program. In
an era of policing, officers feel they are being marginalized more and more by the public. The
agency head must navigate the multifaceted components of changing an agency into the image
that got them into the executive position in the first place.
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Annotated Bibliography
Agee, C. (2020). Crisis and redemption: The history of American police reform since World War
II. Journal of Urban History, 46(5), 951-960. https://doi.org/10.1177/0096144217705463
Agee delivers a concise report on the history of American police in the aftermath of
World War II. While leadership styles aren’t explicitly discussed in the article, the
conclusions are obvious that the upheaval of the civil rights era instilled differing
leadership styles across the country. Police agencies not only had new rules in the form of
case law, their officers were also given more backbone and were able to champion for
themselves.
Chen, L., Huang, X., Sun, J., Zheng, Y., Graham, L., & Jiang, J. (2024). The virtue of a
controlling leadership style: Authoritarian leadership, work stressors, and leader power
distance orientation.LAsia Pacific Journal of Management.,L41(2), 507–547.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-022-09860-7
The authors in this article attempt to understand the positive and negative impacts of
authoritarian leadership. Impacts on employee stress seem to be a downside of this type
of leadership. Positives are more closely related to overall metrics of the performance of
the agency or company being led by the authoritarian.
Choi, S., Bitter, A., Sturges, H., Snyder, J., Bitter, A., Surges, H., & Snyder, J. (2024). Advancing
the Implementation of Body-Worn Cameras: Using Police Officers’ Buy-In to Inform
Research and Policy. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 39(2), 422-433.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-023-09615-0
The authors sought to understand the effects of buy-in to body worn camera policies.
They found data that supports that officers may suffer from higher rates of burnout and
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FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO AGENCY SUCCESS
stress while wearing body-worn cameras. These stressors could lead to higher rates of use
of force which is the opposite of body camera intention. The authors underscored the
importance of agency heads relaying a message that the new policy will benefit the
officers overall ability to do the job.
Christoff, T., & Carleton, B. (2024). Buy-in for police early intervention systems: An initial
exploration of what works. Journal of Criminal Justice, 92.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2024.102179
This article tackles the buy-in of controversial new agency policies. The authors boiled it
down to how officers understood. If they believed the outcomes of the new program were
designed with officer wellness in mind and not disciplinary action, they were more likely
to support the program. If they thought of it as a discipline-focused system, they were
more likely to harbor animosity.
Dubord, N. & Griffiths, C. (2021). Creating a Change Culture in a Police Service: The Role of
Police Leadership, Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 15(1), 168-180.
https://doi.org/10.1093/police/paz055
In this article, the authors discuss a case study where major changes came to an agency.
They studied the method in which the change occurred. In this case, slow change
occurred over time with much discussion that involved different levels of the agency. A
successful implementation of new patrol techniques resulted from the way the agency
leadership went about getting buy-in from the officers.
Molines, M., El Akremi, A., Storme, M., & Celik, P. (2020). Beyond the tipping point: the
curvilinear relationships of transformational leadership, leader-member exchange, and
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FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO AGENCY SUCCESS
emotional exhaustion in the French police. Public Management Review, 24(1), 80-105.
https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2020.1795231
Transformational leadership on paper seems like the best option for any department. The
authors of this article lay out good reasoning as to why that may be true. They also
acknowledge that data exists that indicates that transformational leadership may leave
employees mentally and emotionally exhausted.
Nettle, D., & Saxe, R. (2021). ‘If men were angels, no government would be necessary’: The
intuitive theory of social motivation and preference for authoritarian leaders.LCollabra.
Psychology,L7(1)https://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.28105
This article is not specifically police related. It goes into detail about experiments
involving hypothetical settlements. The researchers found that it benefited to have
powerful authoritarian governments in place to maintain certain goals for the hypothetical
communities.
Penn, N. (2020). August Vollmer and the Sins of the Father. The American Interest, 16, 1-5.
https://go.openathens.net/redirector/liberty.edu?url=https://www.proquest.com/
magazines/august-vollmer-sins-father/docview/2462686926/se-2
In this article Penn gives us insight on one of the early pioneers of transformational
leadership in the police world. August Vollmer had some idiosyncrasies that were pointed
out in the article that are concerning. That doesn’t eliminate the progressive strides that
he made within the police world that are evident.
Shuh, S., Zhang, X., & Tian, P. (2013). For the Good or the Bad? Interactive Effects of
Transformational Leadership with Moral and Authoritarian Leadership Behaviors: JBE.
Journal of Business Ethics, 116(3). 629-640. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1486-0
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FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO AGENCY SUCCESS
In this brief article, the authors attempt to understand the interactions of transformational
and authoritarian leadership. They compare the two styles at different levels along the
way and report their findings.
Swid, A., (2014). Police members perception of their leaders’ leadership style and its
implications. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management,
37(3), 579-595. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-08-2013-0085
Swid chose to compare transformational and transactional leadership. What I chose to use
from the article were the remarks given about how employees felt under transactional
leadership. These leaders left some to be desired in the form of how they made
employees feel at work. They are very transaction oriented and not very personable.
Thomas, A., & Cangemi, J. (2021). Authoritarian, transactional, and transformational leadership
styles in law enforcement. Organization Development Journal, 39(1), 33-44.
This article starts with evidence that leaders should be a certain way within an agency.
The authors then go on to discuss the three leadership styles and compare them to how
they fit in with the characteristics that seem to benefit officers in their interactions with
the community.
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References
Agee, C. (2020). Crisis and redemption: The history of American police reform since World War
II. Journal of Urban History, 46(5), 951-960. https://doi.org/10.1177/0096144217705463
Chen, L., Huang, X., Sun, J., Zheng, Y., Graham, L., & Jiang, J. (2024). The virtue of a
controlling leadership style: Authoritarian leadership, work stressors, and leader power
distance orientation.LAsia Pacific Journal of Management.,L41(2), 507–547.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-022-09860-7
Choi, S., Bitter, A., Sturges, H., Snyder, J., Bitter, A., Surges, H., & Snyder, J. (2024). Advancing
the Implementation of Body-Worn Cameras: Using Police Officers’ Buy-In to Inform
Research and Policy. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 39(2), 422-433.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-023-09615-0
Christian Standard Bible. (2017)LHolman Bible Publishers.LNashville, Tennessee
Christoff, T., & Carleton, B. (2024). Buy-in for police early intervention systems: An initial
exploration of what works. Journal of Criminal Justice, 92.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2024.102179
Dubord, N. & Griffiths, C. (2021). Creating a Change Culture in a Police Service: The Role of
Police Leadership, Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 15(1), 168-180.
https://doi.org/10.1093/police/paz055
Molines, M., El Akremi, A., Storme, M., & Celik, P. (2020). Beyond the tipping point: the
curvilinear relationships of transformational leadership, leader-member exchange, and
emotional exhaustion in the French police. Public Management Review, 24(1), 80-105.
https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2020.1795231
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FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO AGENCY SUCCESS
Nettle, D., & Saxe, R. (2021). ‘If men were angels, no government would be necessary’: The
intuitive theory of social motivation and preference for authoritarian leaders.LCollabra.
Psychology,L7(1)https://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.28105
Penn, N. (2020). August Vollmer and the Sins of the Father. The American Interest, 16, 1-5.
https://go.openathens.net/redirector/liberty.edu?url=https://www.proquest.com/
magazines/august-vollmer-sins-father/docview/2462686926/se-2
Shuh, S., Zhang, X., & Tian, P. (2013). For the Good or the Bad? Interactive Effects of
Transformational Leadership with Moral and Authoritarian Leadership Behaviors: JBE.
Journal of Business Ethics, 116(3). 629-640. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1486-0
Swid, A., (2014). Police members perception of their leaders’ leadership style and its
implications. Policing: An international Journal of Police Strategies & Management,
37(3), 579-595. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-08-2013-0085
Thomas, A., & Cangemi, J. (2021). Authoritarian, transactional, and transformational leadership
styles in law enforcement. Organization Development Journal, 39(1), 33-44.
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