What’s expected of leadership from year to year rarely stays the same. While every new cohort of police executives expects to face new challenges, the complexity of contemporary law enforcement is unprecedented. The extent of which is largely due to the impact of new technology on how people communicate and share experiences. If there’s a negative incident between law enforcement and the community, it’s no longer a local issue, it’s a national one.
“It’s not just worrying if something happened in your department; wherever it happens, it can have an impact on it.”
How one agency operates and responds to community expectations can inform the perception of law enforcement across the country. This can have a negative impact on police legitimacy, which is the metric for how law enforcement is perceived by the community they serve. Less perceived legitimacy translates to less respect for law enforcement, which can undercut community engagement efforts and complicate officer safety.
Watch the full Q&A to hear Chuck Ramsey’s thoughts on:
- Managing relationships with your officers and your community
- Moving beyond the reliance on legacy candidates in recruiting new officers
- The actionable information every chief needs to lead effectively