Creating and Implementing Leadership Training for Police Sergeants and Middle-Management: A Multi-Site Comparison

• In Event: Police Leadership: Assessments, Education, and Training

Abstract

Many trends currently drive the contemporary need for leadership training at the sergeant and middle-management level in policing, including rapid turnover forced by early retirements and the lack of budgetary resources to facilitate such training externally. Additionally, the absence of comprehensive and current literature examining this critical organizational role leaves organizations with few resources with which to construct their own sergeant-level training programs. This multi-site comparison study will examine the experiences of three medium-sized city and county agencies that conducted sergeant leadership training internally. The study will trace the training programs trajectories from initial assessment of training needs to the completion of the training, and will examine how the agencies identified internal experts to provide the training, and crafted lesson topics and plans where appropriate. Important features of the training delivery such as scheduling, implementation, and evaluation of the training program itself will be discussed. The research project is expected to provide important lessons for police executive leadership opportunities and police in-service training landscapes, particularly in the areas of professional development, career laddering, and employee engagement strategies.

Authors

• Charles Scheer, University of Southern Mississippi

• Philip Carlan, University of Southern Mississippi