Rank Matters: police leadership and the authority of rank

Abstract

Dominant discourse conceptualises leadership in the police as a rank-neutral activity. Despite the growing body of academic work in police leadership studies, critical analysis of the influence of rank is largely overlooked. The power and authority of rank has assumed a taken-for-granted and unquestioned status. The authority of rank, however, provides police officers with a powerful framework to understand leadership in the police. Drawing on the findings from 38 semistructured interviews with police officers in a U.K constabulary, this paper problematises conventional understanding of police leadership and theorises the use of rank through the creation of an analytical model, the Situated Authority Model of Leadership. The Model acts as framework for policing scholars and practitioners to critically consider the nuanced relationship between context and authority in police leadership. At a time when police organisations across the globe increasingly seek to adopt collaborative leadership practices, this paper contributes to the evidence base on that challenges of developing alternative approaches to leadership and demonstrates that an appreciation of rank in the experience and practice of leadership is fundamental to the leadership reform in the police.

Is there ‘discretionary space’ in rank-based police constabularies for graduate constables to think critically and make autonomous decisions?

“…It has also retained some of the same organisational tenets, a rigid hierarchical management structure, with promotion from within, and based on demonstrating knowledge and experience gained from within the organisation (Silvestri, 2006;Mawby and Wright, 2008). While some of the more overt militaristic affectations, such as marching and saluting, have fallen away, there is still a reliance on rank as the final arbitrator and an expectation that commands will be obeyed without question (Silvestri, 2006;Fleming and Rhodes, 2017;Davis, 2020). The idea that decisions are made by those with rank is an unquestioned orthodoxy and is deeply entrenched throughout the organisation, so that even minor decisions are flagged for the approval of senior officers as a matter of routine (Norman and Williams, 2017;Davis, 2020).…”

“…While some of the more overt militaristic affectations, such as marching and saluting, have fallen away, there is still a reliance on rank as the final arbitrator and an expectation that commands will be obeyed without question (Davis, 2020;Fleming and Rhodes, 2017;Silvestri, 2006). The idea that decisions are made by those with rank is an unquestioned orthodoxy and is deeply entrenched throughout the organisation, so that even minor decisions are flagged for the approval of senior officers as a matter of routine (Davis, 2020;Norman and Williams, 2017). This has led to the general acceptance of command and control management, even in day to day decisions, and despite attempts to introduce a more transformational management style, transactional management is the institutional norm (Golding and Savage, 2008;Neyroud, 2011).…”

“…This issue of discretionary control is exacerbated by the quasi-military rank structure that is embedded in police organisations. The hierarchy defines meaning and convention and there is a reluctance to challenge or even question decisions of senior officers (Davis, 2020). This combination of rank hierarchy and the limitations around performing discretion define the boundaries of ‘discretionary space’.…”

Police leadership as a professional practice

“…Shared leadership is based on collectivism, collaboration and participation in a holistic sense (Gronn 2002), and, therefore, it shifts focus from the individual leader to a community context. However, the quasi-militaristic rank structure in policing leadership and the power dynamics of 'rank knows best' are neglected in distributed leadership contexts (Steinheider and Wuestewald 2008;Silvestri 2011;Davis 2018). Caless and Tong's (2015) empirical work on police leadership does provide a picture of the current understanding of strategic leadership practice in Europe.…”

“…The command-based leadership is task-oriented (as opposed to relationally oriented) and reflects the authority of rank (Davis and Bailey 2018), which mirrors the centralised top-down hierarchy of the police. The quasi-military authority culture of rank constructs and reconstructs conventions of 'know your place' in the hierarchy (Steinheider and Wuestewald 2008;Silvestri 2011;Davis 2018). For the most part, police leaders work their way up through the ranks internally, through various levels, in order to reach a senior management position (Roberts et al 2016); they are often recruited on the basis of being 'the foremost among equals' .…”