Police Leadership and Management

The governance of contemporary police organisations requires leaders and managers to work in and understand complex social, political, and organisational environments. The wide range of topics in this collection explores what is changing, what is known about the impact of these changes, and what leaders and managers now need to be able to do or anticipate as a consequence. Operational policing now embraces new models of "partnership" and "community" to manage crime and disorder. Equally, while command and control models are still an essential of many aspects of policing, managing police officers and staff increasingly depends on their professional development and encouraging enthusiasm and innovation. Policing takes place under conditions of intense scrutiny from the media and from the community, and crime and disorder is the subject of much political debate. The volume is aimed at every level of management and leadership in policing, as well as researchers and students.

The challenges for police leaders and managers worldwide are surprisingly consistent. This volume presents fresh and unusual perspectives from Australia on the new contexts and challenges of contemporary police leadership and management. It provides practitioners, researchers and students with a breadth and depth of background that enables them to understand the often politically complex environment of crime and disorder management faced by those in leadership roles. The contributors to the volume recognise that modern operational policing must embrace partnership models in order to manage crime and disorder, and that, while command and control models are still an essential of many aspects of policing, managing police officers and staff increasingly depends on their professional development and encouraging enthusiasm and innovation. The authors also write against a background of intense political, media and community scrutiny of police work. The wide range of topics explores what is changing, what is known about the impact of these changes and what leaders and managers now need to be able to do or anticipate as a consequence.