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This paper aims to present empirical results from a study of attitudes of police managers to different leadership roles in their jobs in two police districts in Norway.

A questionnaire was developed and administered among police managers in two police districts in Norway. Participants in leadership programs were selected for this survey research carried out in March and April 2010. Follo police district and Hedmark police district had a total of 130 participants in these programs with 60 managers from Follo and 70 managers from Hedmark.

The personnel leader role was found to be most important, followed by the resource allocator role. Responding police managers reported that they felt least competent in the liaison role.

Limitations were that the relatively small sample size restricted the use of sophisticated statistical tools and the generalisability of results to police services other than Norway.

Key implications are the necessary shift from resource allocation to personnel leadership and potential for role conflict.

A well‐regarded police service is a prerequisite for the positive perception of law enforcement and justice. Leadership is a key element for ensuring integrity and accountability in policing.

This is the first survey of its kind of Norwegian police managers.

This exploratory study used a two‐stage cluster analysis procedure and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) to identify burnout types in a sample of 135 male Canadian police managers in the Sergeant/Staff Sergeant ranks. Three clusters were identified: Laissez‐Faire managers (n=15), well‐adjusted managers (n=74), and distressed managers (n=46). A discriminant analysis of the three clusters using the 22 MBI items yielded two significant functions; one function reflected emotional exhaustion and depersonalization items and the other function personal accomplishment items. The functions correctly classified 94.1 percent of the managers. Implications for organizational policies and programs were presented for tackling police manager burnout as well as recommendations for further research on burnout types.

The main objective of the study is to identify the effects of various sources of job-related strains on police managers' turnover intentions.

Data from a sample of American police managers (N = 179) were used to construct a path model that estimated the direct and indirect effect of environmental and organizational stressors on turnover intentions while considering the mediating role of negative emotionality.

Although most of the surveyed police managers (61%) did not report turnover intentions, those who did were more likely to have experienced burnout, frustration and/or emotional drain. Strenuous relationships with police supervisors and work–life imbalances were the main sources of these negative emotions. Turnover intentions were expressed by managers at the operational/technical level (sergeants) and by those who perceived a lack of procedural justice at the agency level. Highly educated managers were significantly less likely to report burnout and turnover intent.

Since this analysis is based on a relatively small convenience sample of police managers, readers should interpret the results cautiously.

To reduce turnover in police organizations, police administrators should implement and follow policies and procedures to ensure a fair, consistent and just treatment of all employees.

This is one of the few recent studies that focused exclusively on police managers' turnover intentions.

To present qualitative data illustrating how some of the largest law enforcement agencies in the USA use risk management in their efforts to control police liability.

To explore this topic, two main data sources were utilized: telephone interviews with 354 law enforcement agencies identified the prevalence of the use of risk management by police agencies; and survey data from police agencies provided descriptive information about the roles, duties, and placement of risk managers within each police organization.

Telephone interviews revealed that 14 of the 354 (0.039 percent) law enforcement agencies identified risk management as one of several tools they use to control police‐related liability within their organizations. This finding is surprising, given the increase in costs associated with settlements/payouts for police‐involved litigation and liability claims over the past few decades.

Future research should identify the reasons why police agencies choose not to use risk management in their police liability management efforts. In addition, future research should explore how the characteristics of city government and/or political culture are associated with the use of risk management by law enforcement agencies.

This paper can serve as a basic resource for police scholars and practitioners, city/county attorneys, risk managers, and various other city/county agents that are interested in learning about risk management as a way to manage police liability.

This paper presents the first national study of risk management in police agencies in the USA.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the extent to which espoused values among police managers in the Norwegian police force are compatible with those of a learning organization.

A questionnaire was developed and administered to police managers in two police districts in Norway. A set of values was developed to measure police culture and their significant correlation with those of a learning organization. All values were believed to represent cultural dimensions of potential importance to law enforcement performance.

It was found that police managers espoused values of informality and empowerment rather than authority and hierarchical order. These values are the only police values that are found to be significantly correlated with those of a learning organization. Moreover, these findings contradict the previous literature within policing, which describes a police culture of hierarchy, authority and closeness. Also, these values only represent two of the eight values that were found to be crucial for becoming a learning organization.

There is a need for police managers to both espouse and enact values in accordance of those of a learning organization, but this study only investigates espoused values. Hence, further research is needed to investigate the possibilities for the Norwegian police force to become a learning organization.

The paper provides empirical research to generate insights into espoused values of the Norwegian police force and identifies those values that are crucial for their possibilities of becoming a learning organization.

This study aims to explore whether hierarchical position and organizational size affect perceptions of a learning organization (LO) during reform implementation.

An electronic survey was distributed in four Norwegian police districts at an early stage of reform implementation. One of the objectives of the reform was to develop the police toward being more knowledge-based, and there had been specific calls for the police to become a LO. The 753 respondents were top managers, middle managers and employees.

Respondents rated their organizations lower than benchmark scores on supportive learning environment, learning processes and practices and leadership that reinforces learning. The perceptions diverged across hierarchical levels: middle managers and top managers gave higher scores to the organization as a learning one than employees did. Respondents from large police districts gave higher scores to their organizational units as LOs than respondents from small police districts.

The study captures perceptions of characteristics of a LO at one point in reform implementation, and further studies are needed to fully understand explanations of diverging views within an organization as to whether it can be characterized as a LO.

Actual differences in local learning practices or different assessments of learning practices within the organization should be considered when developing LOs.

The study contributes to our knowledge of LOs by showing diverging views within the same organization in a context of reform implementation.

Suggests that the British police service is experiencing the effects of the “new managerialism” in the public sector. A particular concern has been the system of single‐point entry to the service and its capacity to provide the police with the managers it needs to tackle contemporary issues. Points out that calls for reform have tended to focus on the merits and demerits of an “officer class” solution. Argues that rhetoric about military‐style elites for the police has blocked open discussion about the potential advantages of dual‐or even multiple‐point entry to the service. Examines the debate and counters criticisms surrounding it through comparisons with reforms in Britain′s National Health Service, and also with the Dutch and Japanese police. Argues that direct entry could catalyze change and improvement in the areas of equal opportunities, specialist functional management and reward systems at all levels.

The occupational stress of policing is receiving greater attention from police forces and researchers. The present study assessed burnout, as measured by the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), in a heterogeneous sample of 135 Canadian police managers. Results show that few of these police managers could be classified as burned out because only 3.7% of the sample fell into phase VIII of Golembiewski and Munzen‐rider's phase model of burnout. Comparisons of these results to the MBI norms and other police samples also show that this sample is relatively healthy with respect to burnout. Findings from this study and others in the police stress field lead to four major recommendations for future action. First, there is a need to evaluate the effects of stress interventions by organizations on the stress reactions and experienced burnout of police officers. Secondly, there is also a need for longitudinal research to examine changes in burnout phases with changes in type of duty, rank, and years of service. Thirdly, as more women and minorities enter policing, there is a need to examine group differences in burnout Finally, the phase model of burnout deserves greater attention in the police field in order to better describe and explain the nature of police stress.

The paper aims to argue that leadership by police managers is needed to stimulate and encourage knowledge sharing in police investigations, and to report an empirical study of what management roles are most important in investigations.

A research model was designed based on six management roles and a set of hypothesized relationships. A survey measuring management roles and knowledge sharing attitude was conducted in Norway. Respondents were senior investigation officers.

Only one management role was found to be a significant determinant of knowledge sharing in police investigations based on the sample used in this survey research within the Norwegian police force: the spokesman role was the only significant role. As a spokesman, the senior investigation officer extends organizational contacts to promote acceptance of the unit and the unit's work within the organization of which they are a part.

The low response rate of 20 percent may make it difficult to draw strong conclusions. Unfortunately, the authors have no information about what kinds of non‐response bias might be present (significant variation between the sample and the population). Future research should be more consistent in identifying the population.

While police investigations (of organized crime, trafficking, narcotics, economic crimes, homicide, etc.) need a stimulating internal structure for knowledge sharing, investigations depend on knowledge sharing with relevant persons and departments outside the unit as well to succeed.

Rather than stressing the importance of leadership in general to stimulate knowledge management, this paper is original as it applies a set of management roles to empirically study where leadership makes a difference for knowledge sharing attitudes.

A number of external and internal forces are influencing policing efforts to service the community. These external forces include public expectations for traditional services, and the State government's push towards new public management practices. Internal forces include legacy management practices and inappropriate asset holdings. While there have been a plethora of companies from the private sector that have successfully used information and communication technology (ICT) to address similar influences and ameliorate their performance, this has not been the case in the policing environment. To obtain the strategic, tactical and operational benefits that can be acquired through the adoption and widespread implementation of ICT, a framework is presented to enable virtual policing in Western Australia.