The NJ Police Chief Magazine Volume 24, Number 9 | Page 19

The New Jersey Police Chief Magazine | December 2018
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in its June 2015 Leadership Review:
“There is… a powerful need for change. The future context identified in this review demands a fundamental
change in the way we equip the whole police workforce with leadership skills and knowledge.”
But policing is a complex business, and police organisations are complex, and parts of them may not need to
change; or if they do, they need to function exceptionally well whilst change is considered, tested, challenged and
implemented. Only skilled management will deliver that.
The next section presents two fictional but realistic case studies where the pre-occupation with leadership to the
detriment of management results in leadership capacity being consumed and thus unable to take the organisation
forwards into further sunlit uplands.
The leadership-management conflict in action
Case Study 1
Location: Custody Centre, South West UK Police Force
Custody inspector A is in charge of one of five custody centres in the force area, and detainees are taken here for
a variety of offences. He is looking for the next promotion, and has been marked out as a future leader, having
successfully led the introduction of a new crime reporting process as part of the Business Change Department.
In his new custody role, he has identified that staff have been in post a very long time, and he is conscious that
the environment is challenging and difficult, and morale is low. He believes that this situation presents risk to the
safe detention of detainees, and puts in place a series of programmes designed to engage staff, lift morale and
improve well-being.
He does this by holding team-building sessions, ‘ask the boss’ surgeries, and carefully considers each individual’s
strengths and weaknesses, their aspirations and desires – and really gets to know them. In staff surveys, the
team report on how differently they feel at work since Inspector A arrived, and it seems he is building strongly on
his reputation as an inspirational leader.
One day, detainee X arrives at the station. He is searched in accordance with normal practice at that custody
centre, and is taken to the cell, with normal visits. At the first visit by the detention officer, the detainee is found
bleeding heavily from a throat wound. An ambulance is called, and the detainee is taken immediately to hospital
where he is pronounced dead on arrival.
The subsequent investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) finds that the detained
male was not subject to a full risk assessment and intelligence review when he arrived at the custody centre.
Had he been, custody staff would have known to check his body orifices for weapons, and his detention conditions
would have taken account of the risk he presented to himself and others. As it was, the male had secreted a razor
blade in a body cavity, and had slashed his neck soon after entry to the cell. The investigation recommended that
the force review its custody processes across all centres as a matter of urgency.
In response, the force engaged in activity to review all critical processes, dealt with the adverse publicity created
by both the case and the coroner’s inquest which occurred three years later, and paid a considerable sum in an
out-of-court settlement to the family of the deceased.
The custody environment across the force became very difficult to recruit new people into, especially custody
sergeants, who saw it as a risk to their careers and personal lives. Leadership time and resources were engaged
in tackling the reputational fall-out from the incident for a considerable period.
Case Study 2
Location: Custody Centre, South West Police Force
Custody inspector A is in charge of one of five custody centres in the force area. She has recently taken on the job
having left a Detective Inspector’s role, where she earned a reputation as a thorough and detailed investigator.
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