A Case Study of a Rural Kansas Police Chief

• In Event: Policing Strategies Across Communities and Contexts

Abstract

This case study explored the leadership practices of a Kansas Chief of Police serving in a small rural community of 1000 citizens. The study describes the interworking of the chief's leadership dynamics within the community and his police department. A qualitative case study approach, which included in-depth interviews, casual conversations, and observations of the chief leading the police department and larger community, was conducted regularly over three months. This research fleshed out three themes describing leadership dynamics in a small rural police department. The police chief seemed to blend a "community-oriented" and a "jack of all trades" leadership style into the job. Moreover, in contrast to many urban police chiefs, he regularly navigated the complexities of personally responding to calls for police service while at the same time balancing the political landscape of rural, small-town policing. The challenges of separating the chief's personal life and the job while living and working among the town's 1000 residents are critiqued and discussed.

Authors

• Joshua J. Davis, Texas State Universtiy

• Michael L. Birzer, Wichita State University