Pursuing excellence, or being the best you can be, should be something every police officer should aspire.
Being a representative of our system of government and its laws should be cause enough to think about how policing is done in a most excellent way.
Officer, how would you (or if you are a CJ student, how would you prepare a paper) to define “world-class policing?” And how are you and your organization pursuing excellence in policing — striving to meet your definition?
I suggest the answer to this question rests within the pages of this blog!
All you have to do is search the following terms here:
ROBERT PEEL and Nine Principles of Policing (1829) (values that are still today necessary for democratic policing).
ISO POLICE STANDARDS (international standards on what constitutes quality policing).
“HOW TO RATE YOUR LOCAL POLICE” (my book with a checklist).
Principles of QUALITY LEADERSHIP (what Madison developed as to qualities of modern police leaders).
SIMON SINEK (a contemporary philosopher looks at leadership and “Why leaders eat last”),
I suggest that what you should end up with is a statement like this:
A WORLD CLASS POLICE OFFICER is educated, emotionally and physically fit, well-trained in the most current methods of policing, respectful to others, controlled in use of force, has high integrity, and committed to working closely with those whom he or she serves.
A WORLD CLASS POLICE AGENCY fosters the development of world-class police (see above), listens to their ideas and helps them grow throughout their careers. The agency is transparent, open, honest, self-regulating, and is highly committed to serving its “customers” while doggedly committed to the rule of law and constitutional police practices.
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 calling for police improvement (for example, How To Rate Your Local Police, and with my wife, Sabine, Quality Policing: The Madison Experience). After retiring from the police department, I answered a call to ministry, attended seminary, and was ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church. At the present time, I serve a small church in North Lake (WI), east of Madison. Sabine and I have nine adult children, eleven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. She is also a retired police officer and we both continue active lives.
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Pursuing excellence, or being the best you can be, should be something every police officer should aspire.
