Police Leadership: Organizational and Managerial Decision Making Process, 2nd Edition

By Maria R. Haberfeld

Published by Pearson

Copyright © 2013

Published Date: Jan 6, 2012

The Pentagon of Police Leadership

The Pentagon of Police Leadership

Name

Course

Tutor’s Name

31st, July, 2012

Abstract

Given the demanding realm of security and policing, leader should have strategic mechanism that
pursues effective organizational performance. Leadership is not an inherent ability but a learnt trait
which the society should embrace. In police department, effective leadership is a significant tool that
can yield remarkable results as poor leadership create scandals. Police leaders are in the challenging
position of achieving and defining their success and assisting others to focus on their success for the
betterment of public security. Following this, police leaders should understand the key areas that
evaluate and examine the pragmatic job skills. The pentagon of police leadership is a model that impact
police leaders.

Effective leadership is paramount in any given organization. As argued by Souryal (1981), police leaders
are obligated to perform their duties effectively to enhance positive results to the public. The public has
high expectations with the police department and when expectations are not meant ends into
frustrations. There is no one model of leadership since the leadership style utilized by an individual may
not work effectively for another. In facts, people lead in different ways based on various factors such as
personality, task imposed, organization, and desired outcomes. Therefore, it should be the leader duty
to determine the leadership style that enhances success. For effective police leadership, Haberfeld
(2006) presented a model the pentagon of police leadership to enforce future leaders. In essence, the
pentagon comprises of five topics which this paper seeks to explore.

The five solid topics include selection, recruitment, supervision, discipline, and training. In his model,
Haberfeld (2006) argued that, under recruitment and selection police agencies should only hire qualified
applicants who eventually create a competitive organization. There should be rules and regulations
governing the recruitment and selection process to ensure that the selected applicants are qualified and
competent. If an organization has a vacancy to fill, it should find the right applicant suited for the
position whose knowledge and skills improve the organization. Though interview session appear the
definitive moment to choose the right applicant, making the précis choice begins prior to the interview.
To Velz (2006), recruiting success depends on how leaders prepare themselves for the process, publicize
it along with screen the applicants. This ensures that the interview meets the best and right candidates.
Police leaders should ensure that all applicants understand their position to avoid waste of time in
rejecting and examining unsuitable and unqualified applicants.
Training component obligates employees to obtain leadership training to equip them to being future
leaders. According to Baker (2010), training moulds employees’ thinking as it augment quality
performance. This process occurs after orientation and never ends as it enhance capabilities,
knowledge, and skills of performing task and becoming effective leaders in future. Training process is
crucial for police organizational success and development because an employee tends to become more
productive and efficient when he is well trained. When an employee is trained as per his skills, his
productivity and efficiency increases and this also increases confidence in becoming an effective leader
who adds value to the company. Police department should provide the leadership training that an
individual requires to develop into an effective leader. This ensures that individuals comprehend the
necessities of being an outstanding leader who makes a difference in the organization.

Lastly, discipline and supervision are components required for advanced management training. A study
by Velz (2006), found four aspects of competence common to management training. These areas
include the management of trust, meaning, attention, and self. The first one entails building confidence,
focus, consistency, and reliability. This is required in advanced management training to communicate to
followers as why they should do what instructed. The second aspect is the ability of communicating a
vision to followers to align and emulate the leader. The third aspect is the aptitude of managing and
maintaining attention of others through an agenda, vision, or a dream. Eventually, this creates trust as
followers understand their skills and the requirements of being effective in future. The final aspect
entails using one’s skills effectively to boost growth and develop courage, competence, and character.
As argued by Baker (2010), courage entails both moral and physical courage which include the potential
to develop good judgement, self discipline, self-control, and giving hope in hopeless and desperate
situations. Competence ensures that does the job as instructed while character requires one to be self-
discipline, loyal, admit mistakes, and willingly sacrifice to change for the betterment of the organization.

Conclusively, as discussed in this paper one can practice, learn, and measure leadership abilities through
seeking out the above mentioned criteria’s. This paper has outlined the model pentagon of police
leadership which seek to enforce future leaders. The model consists of five sections which are selection,
recruitment, supervision, discipline, and training (Pell, 1967). To implement effective leadership in
future, there should be a successful selection and recruitment to obtain right applicants for the position.
This ensures that the applicants suit their position as they work towards establishing growth. Training is
paramount in educating employees on what is obligated towards accomplishing the set goals. Educating
employees on the necessities of becoming effective leaders is paramount as it enforces them to being
exceptional leaders in future. Lastly, supervision and discipline are core elements in advanced
leadership training as it creates a strong foundation to articulate the key elements in police leadership.
This summarized in four components which are management of trust, meaning, attention, and self. First,
trust creates confidence and focus while meaning emphasizes on communicating the vision effectively.
Secondly, attention entails keeping attention on the vision and dream imposed while self involves
sacrificing towards the successfulness of the organization. With this in mind, this paper has discussed
the pentagon of police leadership that seeks to enforce future leaders.

References
Baker, T. E. (2010). Effective Police Leadership: Moving Beyond Management. New York: Looseleaf
Law Publications

Haberfeld, M.R. (2006). Police leadership. New York: Pearson Prentice Hall

Pell, A. R. (1967). Police leadership. Springfield, Ill: Thomas.

Souryal, S. S. (1981). Police organization and administration. New York: Harcourt

Brace Jovanovich.

Velz, M. (2006). Leading to Scandal: A Case Study. California: ProQuest Publisher