new statutes creating police powers for public safety directors,
these circumstances will not change. The crazy thing is that in
non-civil service departments, mayors have the authority to ap-
point a patrolman who has been on the job for five years to the
position of police chief. Those chiefs would have all the statutory
authority that public safety directors do not have!
So, police chief or director? It’s not realistic to believe that an
individual can run a police department without some of the legal
authority vested in a chief. However, police management books
often recommend that chiefs should delegate much of their au-
thority to their staff anyway. Still, there are going to be those situ-
ations where a police executive is going to have to “call the shots”
or make the final decision (especially regarding internal affairs
cases). If a director did not have a good working relationship
with his or her most senior officer, this could be problematic.
In reality, this is probably not the case for most departments, as
many competent directors likely have productive relationships
with their staff; it could be, though, if legally challenged.
If municipalities choose the police director route, they should
ensure that they carefully select one with the professional com-
petencies to avoid some of these potential issues. That being
said, a chief might possess all of the authority in the world, but
that means little without the informal power of a leader. Also,
you can fire an incompetent director. Absent a criminal charge
or mental illness, you’re probably stuck with an incompetent
chief. Bottom line: The choice of a leader for a police department
is critical for the success of both that agency and the jurisdiction
that it serves. d
Thomas Shea retired from the Long Branch Police Department in
2017, where he was assigned to the Patrol Division, Investigations
Bureau, Street Crimes Unit, Training and Internal Affairs. He is
currently an Assistant Professor at Centenary University. He is an
active member of Retired Members Local 600.
www.njcopsmagazine.com
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