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12 Int'l J. Police Sci. & Mgmt. 567 (2010)
An Exploratory Study on Ideal Leadership Behaviour: The Opinions of American Police Managers

handle is hein.journals/injposcim12 and id is 575 raw text is: International Journal of Police Science & Management Volume 12 Number 4 An exploratory study on ideal leadership behaviour: the opinions of American police managers Viviana Andreescu and Gennaro F. Vitot (Both) Department of Justice Administration, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292, USA. t(Corresponding author) Tel: 001 800 334 8635; email: gf.vito@louisville.edu Submitted 28 April 2010; revision submitted 20 June 2010; accepted 9 July 2010 Keywords: police leadership, police organisation, police structure, police administration, police management Viviana Andreescu is an assistant professor in the Department of Justice Administration at the University of Louisville. She holds a PhD in Urban and Public Affairs from the University of Louisville. Gennaro F Vito is a professor and Distinguished University Scholar at the University of Louisville's Department of Justice Administration. He is also a member of the faculty of the Administrative Officers Course at the Southern Police Institute at the University of Louisville. He holds a PhD in Public Administration from Ohio State University and is a past president and fellow of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. ABSTRACT This study examines the perceived ideal leader- ship behaviour in police organisations. It is based on a survey of 126 police managers from 23 US States who attended the Administrative Officers Course at the Southern Police Institute during the academic year 2007-2008. The question- naire used in this investigation includes the Leader Behaviour Description Questionnaire Form XII (Stodgill, 1963). The main objectives of this exploratory analysis are to rank the importance of leadership characteristics based on police officers' perceptions, to create a typology of leadership styles preferred, and to identify the demographic factors that are most likely to influ- ence variations in opinions regarding the behavi- our of an ideal police leader. This research shows that individual characteristics can influence not only managerial styles, but also leadership prefer- ences. In particular, results imply that gender and race play an important role in structuring leader- ship preferences. Female police officers do not appear to difer from men in their preferences for a predominantly task-centred and structured leader- ship. However, women seem to favour more than men do: (1) a type of leader who can be considered 'transformational'; or (2) a more democratic, worker-oriented leader, who would allow subordinates freedom of action and would respond well to the followers' concerns. Compared with Whites and other racial minorities, African American police officers tend to favour more a structured task-centred leadership orientation or a leadership style described as transformational. INTRODUCTION Leadership is a crucial concept in the devel- opment of effective organisations. Just what it consists of and how it should be exercised is the subject of serious study across several disciplines. Effective leaders motivate their International Journal of Police Science and Management, Vol. 12 No. 4, 2010, pp. 567 583. DOI: 10.1350/ijps.2010.12.4.207 Page 5671

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