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Managing and Leading Today's Police
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Managing and Leading Today's Police
Challenges, Best Practices & Case Studies

Fifth Edition
August 2025 | 464 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
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For those aspiring to leadership roles in law enforcement, Managing and Leading Today's Police: Challenges, Best Practices & Case Studies provides practical insights and addresses real-world challenges shaping today’s policing landscape. Drawing on their extensive experience, authors Kenneth John Peak, Larry Gaines, and Ronald W. Glensor guide future leaders in critically analyzing current issues and developing essential career skills. The Fifth Edition introduces a case study at the end of each chapter, complemented by new "Focus On" and "You Decide" exercises, as well as sections on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) allowing students to engage with contemporary issues and technologies in the evolving culture of policing today.
 
Preface
 
Acknowledgments
 
About the Authors
 
Part I: Organizations as Living Entities
 
Chapter 1: Leading and Managing Today’s Police: Challenges and Opportunities
Introduction

 
The Concept of Organizations

 
Leadership Versus Management

 
Police Leadership and Management: an Overview

 
Police Leadership and Management: an Historical Perspective

 
Goals, Vision and Mission Statements, and Values

 
Challenges and Opportunities

 
Artificial Intelligence for Police Leadership: Definition and Application

 
Summary

 
Key Terms and Concepts

 
Discussion Questions

 
Notes

 
 
Chapter 2: The Dynamics of Police Organizations: Structure and Theories
Introduction

 
The Development of Organizational Theory and its Application to Policing

 
Administrative Theory

 
The Emergence of Human Relations Theory

 
The Systems Approach

 
Rationales and Purposes of Police Organizational Design

 
Factors That Influence Organization

 
Contemporary Organizational Strategies

 
Summary

 
Key Terms and Concepts

 
Discussion Questions

 
Notes

 
 
Chapter 3: Leadership and Motivation: What Works
Introduction

 
Police Officials as Leaders

 
Developing Leadership Skills

 
Power, Authority, and Leadership

 
Applying Mintzberg’s View of Leaders

 
Strategic Thinking and Planning for Strategic Management

 
Motivation Theory

 
Leading Versus Managing

 
Leadership Theories

 
Typologies of Leadership Styles

 
Leading in Today’s Environment

 
Why Leaders Fail

 
Summary

 
Key Terms and Concepts

 
Discussion Questions

 
Notes

 
 
Chapter 4: Communication, Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
Introduction

 
The Act of Communicating

 
The Communication Process

 
Barriers to Effective Communication

 
Communicating in Various Mediums

 
The Art of Negotiating

 
Coping With Conflict

 
Managers’ and Supervisors’ Roles in Conflict Resolution

 
Summary

 
Key Terms and Concepts

 
Discussion Questions

 
Notes

 
 
Part II: Managing Human Resources
 
Chapter 5: Human Resource Management: The Foundation for an Effective Police Department
Introduction

 
Human Resource Systems

 
Affirmative Action and Police Departments

 
Recruitment

 
Police Selection or Hiring

 
Training: Preparing Officers for the Streets

 
Performance Appraisal

 
Improving Rater Performance

 
Sexual Harassment

 
Promotions

 
Risk Management

 
Summary

 
Key Terms and Concepts

 
Discussion Questions

 
Notes

 
 
Chapter 6: Officers’ Rights, Discipline, and Liability: A Legal and Policy-driven Framework
Introduction

 
Peace Officer’s Bill of Rights

 
Police Officers’ Constitutional Rights

 
Other Areas Where Police Behavior is Governed

 
The Need for Policies and Guidelines

 
When Complaints Arise: Nature and Investigation

 
Averting Problems: The Early Intervention System

 
Legal Considerations

 
The Cost of Failure: Civil Liability

 
Summary

 
Key Terms

 
Discussion Questions

 
Notes

 
 
Chapter 7: Leadership Roles in Labor Relations: “Navigating the Waters” of Unionization
Introduction

 
A Brief History of Police Unions

 
Police Unions Today

 
Models of Collective Bargaining

 
Roles of Union Leaders and Management: Collaboration and Cooperation

 
Negotiating Contract Provisions

 
Concerns With Labor Contracts vis-à-vis Officer Accountability

 
Addressing Conflict: Grievances and Appeals

 
Summary

 
Key Terms and concepts

 
Discussion Questions

 
Notes

 
 
Chapter 8: Financial Administration: Prescription for Success
Introduction

 
Budget Upheaval in Some Agencies Since Mid-2020

 
First Things First: Enhancing Budgets and Financial Stewardship

 
The Budget

 
Budget Formats

 
Summary

 
Key Terms and Concepts

 
Discussion Questions

 
 
Part III: Managing the Work of Police
Notes

 
 
Chapter 9: Ethics and Accountability: Building a Culture of Integrity and Trust
Introduction

 
Ethics, Generally

 
Creating a Culture of Integrity

 
Inappropriate Police Behaviors

 
Random Acts of Kindness: The Hidden Side of Police Work

 
AI vis-a-vis Ethics and Accountability

 
Summary

 
Key Terms and Concepts

 
Discussion Questions

 
Notes

 
 
Chapter 10: Community Policing and Problem Solving: Addressing Crime and Disorder
Introduction

 
Threshold Challenges: Training and Implementation

 
Problem Solving Strategies

 
A Conundrum for The Ages: “Did It Work?”

 
AI vis-a-vis Community Policing and Problem Solving

 
Summary

 
Key Terms and Concepts

 
Discussion Questions

 
Notes

 
 
Chapter 11: Officer Wellness, Safety, and Stress Management: Identifying and Managing Harms
Introduction

 
Occupational Hazards of Policing

 
A Wellness and Safety Plan

 
Training Injuries: Need for Policy, Technology, and oversight

 
Why No OSHA Units in Policing?

 
What Federal Agencies and Task Forces are Doing

 
Recognizing and Managing Stress

 
What Happens When Another Pandemic Strikes?

 
Summary

 
Key Terms and Concepts

 
Discussion Questions

 
Notes

 
 
Chapter 12: Police Planning, Decision-Making, Productivity, and Control
Introduction

 
What is Planning?

 
Strategic Thinking and Planning

 
Participants in The Planning Process

 
A Comprehensive Police Planning Model

 
The Decision-Making Process in Police Organizations

 
Police Productivity Measurement

 
Summary

 
Key Terms and Concepts

 
Discussion Questions

 
 
Chapter 13: Managing Homeland Security and Critical Events
Introduction

 
What Constitues Terrorism

 
The Terrorist Threat

 
Radicalization: The Greatest Threat to America

 
Homeland Security at The Local Level

 
Critical Incidednts: an Introduction

 
Summary

 
Key Terms and Concepts

 
Discussion Questions

 
Notes

 
 
Part IV: In the Police Toolkit: Essentials for the Tasks
 
Chapter 14: Technologies for the Tasks: Tools for Today’s Police Leaders
Introduction

 
How Far We Have Come: Today’s Tools

 
Purpose

 
Provisions:

 
Preparing for a Future with Autonomous Vehicles

 
Sharing The Wealth: Interoperability

 
AI vis-a-vis Police Technology and Tools

 
Summary

 
Key Terms and Concepts

 
Discussion Questions

 
Notes

 
 
Chapter 15: Challenges for the Next Decade: Reassessing, Rethinking, Resetting
Introduction

 
People Considerations

 
Policy Considerations

 
Coping with the Mentally Ill Population

 
AI vis-a-vis Future Challenges

 
Summary

 
Key Terms and Concepts

 
Discussion Questions

 
Notes

 
 
Appendix A: Advice That has Stood The Test of Time: Some Practical Counsel
 
Appendix B: In-Basket Exercise

For instructors