Small Agency Leadership Lessons for Police Executives

The vast majority of chiefs, sheriffs, and other police executives in the United States are responsible for leading relatively small agencies, and yet much of what is written and taught to new law enforcement executives draws lessons from major city agencies with hundreds or thousands of sworn personnel. 

Over the course of a 32-year career in law enforcement, and before serving as chief of two major city police departments, Chief Harry P. Dolan (Ret.) led two smaller agencies—one agency with fewer than 20 sworn over the course of 4 years and another with fewer than 70 sworn over the course of 6 years. During that decade, he learned lessons that are unique to the challenges that come along with the “close contact” nature of leading a smaller agency. In many respects, the smaller agency leadership challenges were significantly more difficult than those he would experience as a major city chief.

In this two-hour webinar, Chief Dolan will discuss:

• Supervision, coaching, counseling, and discipline in smaller agencies
• Overseeing investigations of men and women you know well and work with every day
• Overcoming imposter syndrome when your officers knew you back when
• “Leading from the front” without micro-managing