“At a strategic level, good leaders demonstrate – and are able to articulate – a clear ethical vision for the future of the service. This has vital importance as it negotiates the often-contradictory space between the internal needs of staff and officers, the short-term requirements of politicians, and the long-term demands of the communities policing seeks to serve…”
I served over 20 years as the chief of police in Madison (WI), four years as chief of the Burnsville (MN) Police Department, and before that as a police officer in Edina (MN) and the City of Minneapolis. I hold graduate degrees from the University of Minnesota and Edgewood College in Madison. I have written many articles over my years as a police leader. After retiring from the police department, I answered a call to ministry, attended seminary, and was ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church. After 25 years leading two Episcopal Churches in Portage and North Lake, Wisconsin, I now serve as Associate Pastor in a growing, dynamic, and Spirit-filled Lutheran congregation in nearby Mazomanie.
View all posts by David Couper
“At a strategic level, good leaders demonstrate – and are able to articulate – a clear ethical vision for the future of the service. This has vital importance as it negotiates the often-contradictory space between the internal needs of staff and officers, the short-term requirements of politicians, and the long-term demands of the communities policing seeks to serve…”
Improving Police: A Necessary Conversation 