Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

2015

Document Type

Dissertation - NSU Access Only

Degree Name

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Department

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice

Advisor

David B. Ross

Committee Member

Katrina Pann

Committee Member

Lynne R. Schrum

Keywords

Personnel Selection, Law Enforcement, Leadership, Competencies, Emerging Trends

Abstract

This applied dissertation was designed to provide information to law enforcement leaders and city officials regarding the most important job relevant criteria for selecting the next generation of police chiefs. The criteria that has been typically applied to select police chiefs has included a wide spectrum of job requirements such as professional work experience, knowledge, skills, abilities, education, and training. However, this typical criterion has not been standardized nor closely examined to determine its relevance and applicability to the present and future role of the police chief, which continues to evolve as emerging trends in society place new demands on policing and the ability of police chiefs to ensure public safety and promote social justice. As such, this study asked police chiefs throughout the United States to assess how emerging trends were impacting their role and influencing the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics needed to perform that role. In doing so, the study aimed to identify the most relevant criteria for selecting the next generation of police chiefs.

The methodology for this quantitative descriptive study involved formulating a committee of present and recently retired police chiefs from different states throughout the country who identified the top 20 areas of knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs) they believed were most critical in responding to emerging trends impacting policing and the role of the police chief. In identifying these KSAOs, the committee members reviewed current job postings for the police chief position from across the country and applied their own professional experiences and observations to develop a survey identifying what they believed were the most job relevant criteria for performing the police chief role in the midst of five emerging trends impacting policing. The criteria identified included the KSAOs, police management experience, training, and education that present and future police chiefs would need to possess in order to effectively respond to these emerging trends. The emerging trends studied involved social, economical, technological, and domestic security variables that included: (a) growing diversity in the community, (b) growing diversity in the workforce, (c) prevailing economical constraints, (d) rapidly changing technology, and (e) increasing threats and acts of domestic terrorism.

The survey was distributed to current police chiefs of jurisdictions throughout the United States. An analysis of the survey results revealed that a large majority of the police chiefs believed that each of the identified emerging trends were impacting their police chief role and influencing the KSAOs needed to perform that role. In particular, the police chiefs identified the trends having the most significant impact on their police chief role were rapidly changing technology, prevailing economic constraints, and growing diversity in the community. This finding also held true for the trends that were most significantly influencing the KSAOs needed to carry out the police chief role.

In terms of the most job relevant criteria for selecting our next generation of police chiefs, the police chiefs identified numerous KSAOs that were very important and that directly related to each of the emerging trends described in the study. Additionally, the largest majority of the police chiefs identified the most important criteria for selecting future police chiefs included requiring (a) over ten years of law enforcement management experience; (b) a Master’s degree in Public Administration, Organizational Leadership, or Criminal Justice; and (c) management training through the FBI National Academy, the IACP Center for Police Leadership, the University of Louisville’s Southern Police Institute, and the Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command.

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