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Provision of Police Leadership Development Opportunities, Bramshill: Problem, Solution and a Critical Engagement

2001; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 3; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1177/146135570100300307

1478-1603

Robert Adlam,

Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis

This paper notes the current interest in the question of police leadership effectiveness. It restates the complex role that Bramshill plays in relation to the development of police leaders and the leadership of police organisations. It indicates the core function of the National Police Leadership Faculty situated at National Police Training, Bramshill, and suggests that a sufficient body of knowledge has accumulated showing that police leadership is a distinct and difficult practice. It raises the possibility that the current provision of police leadership development is inadequate, and presents a comprehensive ‘set of moves' that could be adopted if a programme of police leadership development were to be, at least, comprehensive. The paper then moves on to raise a series of questions that are designed to challenge the assumption that better ‘leadership’ is the solution to the problem of police effectiveness. In this latter part of the paper a discussion is developed in relation to the apparent continuation of ‘heroic’ images of leadership. In addition, the paper considers the psychological effects of power wielding — as they are described in Weber's (1967) essay ‘Politics as a vocation’ — and argues that the current content of the police leadership development curriculum is superficial and inadequate because it fails to include this type of analysis in its courses and programmes of study.