How Deming Changed the Way I Saw Police Work

In my years as a police chief, I searched for a way to make policing both more humane and more effective. What I discovered in the teachings of Dr. W. Edwards Deming changed not only how I led but how I understood the very purpose of police work.

After years in uniform, I became convinced that something was deeply wrong with the way we went about doing police work in America. Too much emphasis was placed on control, compliance, and statistics—on counting arrests instead of building relationships. Departments were run like miniature armies rather than community service organizations. Morale suffered, creativity died, and citizens lost trust.

Then I encountered the teachings of Dr. W. Edwards Deming, whose ideas about organizational improvement revolutionized my understanding of leadership. Deming had shown how American industry was failing because it relied on fear, punishment, and rigid hierarchies instead of collaboration, trust, and continuous improvement.

When I read his work, I realized he could just as easily have been describing the police profession.

Deming taught that the job of leaders is not to blame the workers but to improve the system. He believed quality comes from empowering people, listening to them, and using data—not assumptions—to guide change. I began applying these principles to the Madison Police Department. We built problem-solving teams, encouraged officers to learn from mistakes, and made respect for citizens the cornerstone of our work. Slowly, the culture began to shift—from command and control to learning and service.

For me, quality was never just about efficiency. It was about ethics, trust, and democracy itself. When police officers understand their role as guardians of those ideals—and when departments become learning and then teaching organizations that truly serve their communities and the world—then we fulfill the real purpose of policing: to help society live together peacefully and justly.

Dr. Deming helped me see that better policing begins not with more force, but with better leadership.