HEALTH & WELLNESS
Crisis Leadership: Inherent or learned trait in law enforcement?
CHERIE CASTELLANO Cop2Cop
On Oct. 6, the New Jersey State Chiefs Association meeting was the forum for our team at Cop- 2Cop to acknowledge our pick for the Cop2Cop Annual Crisis Leadership Award 2016, which we presented to Linden Police Chief Jonathan Parham.
Ironically, one of our Cop2Cop peer counselors, retired Linden Chief John Miliano, provided the plaque and read the inscription during the event, then added,“ It is a special moment for me because I hired Chief Parham decades ago when I was Chief and knew he was destined for greatness back then.” Cop2Cop peer support was at its finest as we all witnessed this“ Chief2Chief” moment between a leader from the past and a leader in the present. It’ s important to celebrate the moments and events in law enforcement when jobs go well, the bad guy gets caught and, for once, the media is resoundingly supportive as it had no choice but to praise the efforts of several Linden law enforcement officer heroes.
Our view at Cop2Cop is never a tactical or an operational debrief, but rather our role is to provide“ psychological first aid” after a critical incident which may impact officers’ mental health and wellbeing. Cop2Cop was invited to support the Linden Police Department and we were honored to offer whatever support we could. During our crisis response, it was apparent that the Linden Police Department is a family, and that both their police family and families of origin are essential to their resilience and service. Confidentiality is paramount regarding our success at Cop2Cop; so, all I can share is that they were heroic, faithful and united in every way, and our state and country owe them a huge debt of gratitude for their efforts in combatting terrorism in September.
Chief Parham was a new acting Chief, and he displayed many of the characteristics identified in the definition of crisis leadership. In an FBI Journal article entitled“ Leadership During Crisis Response: Challenges and Evolving Research”( Johns, Jarvis, May 2016), the authors add,“ Leadership is defined as a cornerstone of long-term success in all walks of life. Today law enforcement organizations focus on the need to embrace leadership as a core principle for fostering both current and future effectiveness in accomplishing their goals. An apparent deficit in knowledge exists relative to the nature and type of leadership required during law enforcement responses to crisis situations.
To shed light on both the dynamics of effective and ineffective leadership in such situations, a research project has been established to examine the dynamics of leadership and decision-making exercised during crisis events. This research involves a review of after-action reports since 2010, proposes interviews with crisis responders and on-scene commanders from a subset of these events and, perhaps, may even include future field observation of situations that require FBI assistance.
The methodology continues to evolve and change, mostly due to practical issues. However, preliminary findings from initial reviews of after-action reports have suggested that, during critical incidents, leaders must address such principal factors as personnel, communications and other logistical components surrounding deployment of people and capabilities.”
The FBI is exploring a way to find additional evidence to help on-scene commanders and leaders obtain guidance on the merits of decision-making that sometimes becomes necessary in the absence of less than optimal information to support such an action. This proves necessary because, in a crisis situation, crucial data often is unavailable, incomplete, ambiguous or even conflicting. A goal of this research is to identify how best to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the intended response, and when and how to leverage new partnerships, as well as other dimensions of leadership during crises.
Every realm of life – public and private – needs effective leadership. Limited knowledge exists regarding its exercise in crisis situations, and many people assume that simply applying dayto-day leadership protocols to such events will suffice. However, as demonstrated, law enforcement crisis responses differ from those in other realms. The nature and scope of leadership required to effectively respond to crises may, in fact, be different in the confusion of these situations. This research project aims to take advantage of the opportunity to further enhance performance in crisis situations. If successful, perhaps authorities can validate some of what is known from experiential and case data, derive new tools for collecting and analyzing past cases for current and future intelligence and, ultimately, provide for improved leadership during crisis situations that emerge all too frequently.
Another study of leadership advancement involves a term called“ Deliberate Leadership” defined as a roadmap to leadership that teaches how to establish, embrace, encourage, embody and enforce the standards of the agency and the highest ideals of the profession. Reference to“ self-assessment” as a tool for resilience is identified in the“ Emotional Intelligence and Self-awareness” section of this curriculum that encourages leaders to examine their personal styles to identify each participant’ s primary leadership style, preferences, strengths and weaknesses.
The various combinations of personal styles are examined in detail to provide insight into the potential for internal conflict as well as opportunities for collaboration and team-building.
Despite the many ways to examine crisis leadership, sometimes it all culminates in one day. So, on that day in September, when the Linden Police were faced with a shootout and capture of a terrorist making international news, Acting Linden Police Chief Jonathan Parham, who was just sworn into the position,
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