GROUP 1

CFLM 2
HOW TO BE AN EFFECTIVE POLICE LEADER BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER
THE CALL
https://www.policeone.com/shot-show-2018/articles/47174500MikeWood2018

Every January I'm fortunate to attend the Law Enforcement Education Program
(LEEP) at SHOT Show on behalf of Police One, and learn from some of the best
instructors in the business. This year, I was particularly fortunate to attend the “Top 20
Concepts - Mindset, Philosophy, Tactics” session presented by David Pearson, a
lieutenant with Fort Collins (Colorado) Police Services.

Pearson serves as the Less Lethal Section Chair for the National Tactical
Officer's Association (NTOA), which is the principal sponsor of the LEEP presentations.
Police One readers unfamiliar with the NTOA might be tempted to dismiss it as a
“SWAT-only” organization, but the NTOA doesn't draw that distinction, believing every
mission - oriented officer on the street is a “tactical officer” regardless of his or her
assignment. To that end, the NTOA provides training and instruction that is equally
valuable to officers in patrol, investigative, traffic, or tactical assignments.

Pearson's 2018 LEEP session was a wide-ranging study of concepts critical to

the development, maintenance and operation of effective law enforcement teams. I'd
attended the parent course that it was adopted from two years ago at the NTOA
Conference in Louisville, Kentucky, and it was a tight fit to cover all the material in a full

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day. Trying to hit the highlights in a 2-hour session at SHOT was an almost impossible
task, but Pearson pulled it off with a dynamic and humorous presentation that kept
attendees engaged.

Choosing just one highlight from the action-packed briefing is difficult, but I'd like
to share some of Pearson's insight on a critical area that applies to all Police One
readers regardless of assignment or rank: Leadership.

BEFORE THE CALL

Pearson correctly noted that true leadership begins will before a call for service is
received by the police. It's the responsibility of agency leaders - both formal and
informal - to ensure the team is appropriately prepared for their mission. To that end,
Pearson suggests focusing on the following:

Building the right team identity.

How do we view ourselves? How do others view us? What are we known for? What are
the core values that motivate us and influence the way we do our job?

Be a student.

Are you a student of your craft? Do you understand the history of where we've been,
and continuously seek to increase your knowledge? Do you know what the current best
practices are?

Pick the right people for the team.

Special assignments, in particular, require people with a certain mix of skills, attributes
and qualities. Do we have a rigorous process for selecting the right people for the job?

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Provide good training.

This may require you to go outside your agency, or perhaps improve your in-house
capabilities, but there is no substitute for frequent, rigorous, realistic training.

Get the best equipment.

Equipment is no substitute for skill, but having access to the best equipment will
improve your capability. Invest in technologies like less lethal, communications,
protective equipment, surveillance and intelligence gathering, transportation and lethal
force.

Mentor.

As a leader, it's your responsibility to grow and foster other leaders in your organization,
including people who are capable of replacing you when it's time for you to leave.
Get the support of Administration.

It's your responsibility to get the administration on board with the tactics and tools that
your troops will use in the field BEFORE they are used.

Ensure practices match policies and the law. Deviations will cause heartache in the end.

Insist on good mission planning.

Develop good habits, and ensure that all relevant aspects are considered and
addressed before execution to avoid nasty surprises.

DURING A CALL

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When it's time for action, leaders need to demonstrate good control, judgment and
awareness.

Use the safety priorities model.

The NTOA's model prioritizes welfare and personal safety in the following order:
Hostages, innocent civilians, law enforcement and suspect. A good leader makes
tactical decisions with this hierarchy in mind, ensuring that a lower priority is never
allowed to corrupt the decision-making process.

Control emotions.

A good leader maintains personal control, and sets the example for the team. A team
often takes important cues from its leader, so model the behavior you want your team to
display.

Be in charge.

A good leader is confident in taking control amd and making decisions. The team looks
to you for guidance and leadership, and your job is to give it to them. Be in charge. Be a
professional. Use good interpersonal skills, be respectful, communicate clearly, resolve
conflicts in a mature way, make good and thoughtful decisions, and demonstrate
emotional intelligence.

Trust your people.

If you have adequately trained and prepared your people, then you should be able to
trust them to execute the mission without your interference. Tell them the objective,
issue appropriate guidance, and trust them to do their job without micromanaging them.

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Listen to other ideas.

Your people are your greatest resource, and they have a lot they can contribute. Be
smart enough to listen to them. Build a culture where constructive feedback is
encouraged.

If you're doing, you're not leading.

Perhaps the hardest thing for a new leader is to remain hands off. If your attentions are
focused on helping with the task, then you don't have the head space necessary to
monitor and manage the larger situation for the benefit of the team.

AFTER THE CALL

The job of a leader doesn't stop after the action is over, it's just begun. A good leader
takes stock of what happened, implementing the necessary steps to correct, improve
and maintain the team, to wit:

After Action Reporting (AAR)

An honest evaluation of the action is a necessary starting point for continuous

improvement. Honesty and integrity is encouraged when rank or position is not allowed
to influence the AAR. What went right? What went wrong? What needs to be done
differently next time? Future success is built on the answers to these questions.

Change the things that need changing

This might include personnel, tactics, equipment, policies, or myrad other things.
A good leader will take it happen.

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Update training

Training needs to keep pace with current mission requirements, policies and the
law. Update your training based on operational failures and mistakes.

Support your people

Ensure they have what they need to succeed. Stand up for them when they’re
targeted.

Pass on what you’ve learned.

Continue to mentor and grow your leaders within the rank. Share the valuable

experience that you’ve earned. GROUP 1(BUCALA GROUP)

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