| The quantitative research component of this study surveyed Massachusetts police chiefs on the respondents' attitudes about the continued utility of civil service for the chief's position and the concomitant issue as to when leadership training should begin. A number of subordinate issues were embedded in the survey to test the respondents' attitudes about technology, ethics and integrity training, working with multicultural groups and policing strategy; generally these were subsets of the leadership issue. The qualitative research, a case study of a mid-size Massachusetts police department, focused on the civil service issue and implementation of community policing.;Civil service, whether it is state or local, provides a measure of job security against political changes. Critics of the system have pointed to the bureaucratic rigidity of civil service and the lack of flexibility and discretion in decisions. Over the years, not much has changed in the civil service system. Unlike the civil service system, the policing strategy in the United States has undergone tremendous shifts. Currently, policing is in the problem-solving era. The training of leaders for the 21st century has garnered much discussion and debate among police executives. The issue of leadership is of paramount importance for a variety of reasons; chief among those reasons is the global world with its varied cultures and diverse attitudes about law enforcement. Second, is the intense media scrutiny of all things law enforcement, with its attendant local, national, and global publicity, which places heightened stress on police leaders. Third, economic woes facing the United States demand that fiscal resources spent on police agencies reap the most benefit for the communities they serve. The results of the study should encourage public-policy makers to listen to the sagacity of the chiefs when deciding policy for future police leaders. |
