Author: David Couper

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 almost 30 years serving in and leading two Episcopal Churches in the Diocese of Milwaukee, I am "sort-of" in the process of retirement. Life is good.

When A Leader Leads

Part Three: What Should a Leader Say? After a fatal police shooting, most chiefs reach for the same script. They … More

Institutional Drift

Part Two: What is Institutional Drift? Navigators have long worked by a rule of thumb called the one-in-sixty rule: a … More