Police leadership training and development is one of the most important — and current — issues facing law enforcement. Agencies are confronting turnover, retirements, succession challenges, recruitment pressures, budgetary constraints, and, in the midst of all of this, increasing demands for accountability and transparency (Del Pozo et al., 2024; Frade & Walsh, 2026; Hoggett et al., 2018; Martin et al., 2017; Schafer, 2009).
The National Policing Institute (formerly the Police Foundation) has a long history of examining issues related to police education, training, and professional development. We recently contacted experienced law enforcement leaders to participate in interviews, focus groups, and detailed surveys about the competencies, educational pathways, and leadership development experiences and opportunities they consider most important for preparing future leaders.
This breaks down what that survey found, including:
- Five competencies leaders rank the highest (ethical leadership tops the list; AI and political skill rank last)
- The importance of developing internal pathways for building leadership skills
- Why formal education still matters alongside operational experience
- How leaders evaluate the value of training programs
- The importance of early career leadership training for supervisors
The Big Picture
Most police leadership programs available today grew out of two major initiatives. The first was the 1930 Wickersham Commission recommendation that training and education would help standardize and professionalize U.S. law enforcement agencies (this accelerated educational attainment). The second, almost four decades later, was the 1967 President’s Crim Commission Report that led to a surge in academic credentials and a proliferation of educational programs (Strecher, 1988).
Today a wide range of leadership programs, academic degrees, and executive development opportunities, and training courses are available to law enforcement professionals. While the demand for these programs (and for information about their effectiveness) is high (Magurno, 2025), research on the topic is quite limited (see e.g., Bragg, 2013; Mastrofski, 2006; Miller et al., 2009; Modise, 2023; Schafer, 2009). Surprisingly, few studies have examined how experienced law enforcement leaders prioritize competencies, educational pathways, and leadership development experiences and opportunities for personnel within their organizations. Likewise, comparatively little attention has been devoted to the views of those responsible for developing future leaders (Frade & Walsh, 2026).
NPI’s Police Leadership Training Survey
The goal of our survey was straightforward: identify what experienced professionals believe matters most when developing future leaders and strengthening leadership capacity across all ranks within agencies. Participants were asked to reflect on their own career experiences and evaluate the importance of various leadership topics, necessary competencies, educational pathways, program characteristics, and leadership development opportunities across officers’ careers.
The findings offer important insights for agencies seeking to strengthen internal leadership capacity and cultivate future leaders, as well as to create a workforce capable of addressing current challenges facing modern policing.
Who We Surveyed and How
Over 200 individuals responded to our survey, with 168 eligible participants from 35 states and the District of Columbia. An additional 12 respondents completed only the demographic questions and were thereby excluded, leaving a full sample of 156 participants. Respondents included current and recently retired leaders from the ranks of lieutenant through chief executive.
- 61% of respondents served as agency executives or executive commanders
- 39% of respondents were lieutenants, captains, and other command staff
- 14% of the respondents were female
Agencies Represented
- 93% of respondents were local police
- 6% were sheriff’s officers
- 1% were from state agencies
Agency Size
- 41% of respondents led departments with 500 or more sworn officers
- 30% led departments with 100 – 499 sworn officers
- 29% led departments with 100 sworn officers or fewer
Finding #1: A Need for Multiple Paths to Leadership
One of the strongest themes emerging from the survey is that leadership development is much broader than training alone. Leadership capacity develops through multiple pathways, not a single event or training class. Effective leaders are developed through a combination of experiences accumulated over time, including:
- Leadership training, which refers to specific learning experiences like formal courses, seminars, workshops, academies, and other structured learning experiences.
- Leadership development, which refers to the broader process through which individuals acquire the knowledge, skills, and abilities and other competencies needed to lead effectively, including things like sound decision-making and the ability to see the big picture.
This is an important distinction because discussions of police leadership often focus on academies, supervisory schools, command colleges, or executive programs. Agencies have traditionally connected leadership preparation around promotional opportunities, instead of continuous efforts in this area.
While these opportunities remain critically important, our survey respondents noted that leadership training and development should occur either right after field training or when officers become eligible for their first supervisory position, not just after they are promoted. Officers often receive extensive technical and operational training throughout their careers, yet many are promoted into supervisory positions with limited preparation for the leadership responsibilities that accompany promotion.
Finding #2: The Importance of Leadership Opportunities at Every Level
Leadership development remains important at every level of law enforcement, regardless of whether officers choose to pursue promotion. Formal education, leadership training, mentoring, organizational learning, supervisory experience (where applicable), developmental assignments, and career-long professional growth opportunities all contribute to developing effective leaders at every level.
Some leaders told us that their own leadership development involved a lot of personal initiative to advance their careers and build leadership capacity. In many cases, they sought formal education, promotional opportunities, and career guidance from others. But agencies can provide opportunities and encourage leadership development through supervisory modeling, coaching, and mentoring as well. It’s a two-way street: individuals must have the motivation to lead (at any level), but without support from within an organization, many may find themselves with limited opportunities to develop their leadership capacity and capabilities.
Finding #3: The Leadership Topics and Competencies That Matter Most
Over 130 participants in the survey evaluated 39 leadership-development topics and competencies. Across all, 82% of participants rated each as at least somewhat or very important for today’s leaders, as expected, with few who rated any as not at all important.
Among topics rated as very important, some emerged as clear priorities. Among all others, ethical leadership was considered very important by over 80% of respondents. Almost half (19 of 39) of all topics and competencies were considered very important by 50% or more of respondents.
The Top 5 Highest Priority Topics for Leadership
- Ethical leadership (80.7%)
- Accountability and transparency (68.4%)
- Leadership training for supervisors (68.1%)
- Managing community expectations (62.7%)
- Legitimacy (60.7%)
These findings are revealing. They signal the importance of establishing trust, credibility, accountability, and people leadership over displaying technical mastery or administrative acumen. Experienced leaders appear to believe that future leaders must first establish legitimacy and trust before they can effectively manage organizations.
The prominence of accountability and transparency is particularly noteworthy. Modern police leaders operate in an environment characterized by heightened public scrutiny and increasing expectations. Respondents clearly viewed these competencies as central leadership responsibilities rather than peripheral administrative functions.
Topics with at Least 50% Rated as Very Important
Managing organizational culture (59.7%)
Adaptive leadership (59.6%)
Cultivating internal leadership skills (59.6%)
Constitutional policing (58.8%)
Assessing org. culture (57.4%)
Strategic leadership (56.7%)
Establishing int. transparency (56.3%)
Managing staff expectations (53.7%)
Internal messaging/communications (52.6%)
Strategic planning (52.2%)
Mentoring (51.5%)
Establishing a learning culture (50.7%)
Psychological well-being (50.7%)
Evidence-based policing (50.4%)
Topics with <50% Rated as Very Important
Succession planning (47.8%)
Stress management/resilience (46.3%)
Data-driven solutions (46.3%)
Media relations & messaging (46.3%)
Performance management (44.8%)
Transformational leadership (41%)
Organizational justice (40%)
Internal affairs management (34.8%)
Budgeting (33.1%)
Managing other new technology (32.8%)
Trauma-informed leadership (31.3%)
Collective efficacy (29.6%)
Early intervention systems (29.4%)
Investigations management (28.9%)
Mass demonstration management (28.6%)
Fatigue reduction (27.4%)
Managing/using artificial intelligence (26.9%)
Systems thinking (26.1%)
Political skills (21.6%)
Leaders in higher ranks rated “establishing a learning culture” and “managing organizational culture” as significantly more important than did those at the lieutenant and command levels, probably because at their level they feel more responsible for organizational culture. The same was true for media relations and messaging, again likely due to executives’ greater responsibility for those.
Although political skills were ranked the least important, those at the higher levels also saw this as more important than their counterparts did, not surprisingly. While ethical leadership, accountability, and transparency clearly matter, it may seem counterintuitive that political skills seem least important. Survey respondents may have felt that honesty, ethics, and transparency mitigate any need for political skills.
Leaders do more than manage operations. They shape expectations, reinforce values, establish norms, and influence employee behavior. The findings suggest that experienced leaders recognize the critical role culture plays in organizational success, the need to adapt to changes in needs and expectations, as well as how to cultivate internal leaders.
Perhaps surprisingly, AI and other technologies were not among the topics seen as the most important for leadership education and training, despite increased growth in these types of solutions. Leaders clearly feel that people, not technology, should lead decision-making and problem-solving.
That said, while there has been increased attention paid to police fatigue, internal justice, stress management, and resilience (see e.g., Amendola et al., 2026; Calams, 2024; James et al., 2024; NPI, 2026; Tyson & Charman, 2025; Wang et al., 2024), these do not seem to translate to key leadership development priorities — at least not when compared to other topics. This may be because these topics are still emerging, or they may not be viewed as areas in which more training is necessary. Nevertheless, this issue is worthy of further investigation.
Finding #4: An Emphasis on Internal Leadership Development
Many respondents emphasized the importance of internal processes for leadership development. These findings suggest that leadership capacity isn’t created solely through external programs. It’s also developed through daily interactions within organizations. Establishing a transparent and supportive culture with good communication and opportunities for strong mentoring relationships can go a long way toward providing a climate ripe for professional growth and development: one in which formal training can best be incorporated.
Similarly, learning cultures create environments in which employees continuously acquire new knowledge and develop leadership skills. Agencies that encourage learning, reflection, and professional growth may be better positioned to develop future supervisors, commanders, and executives.
The emphasis on internal development also aligns closely with concerns about succession planning. Agencies that intentionally identify and develop future leaders are likely to be better prepared when leadership vacancies occur.
Respondents appear to be sending a clear message: leadership development should not be outsourced entirely to external providers.
Finding #5. The Leadership Development Timing Gap
Determining when to provide leadership development opportunities also emerged as a significant consideration. Respondents were asked both when they personally began focusing on leadership development and when they believed agencies should begin offering leadership-development opportunities. Most respondents indicated that their own leadership-development journey began after becoming first-line supervisors (55%).
Yet when asked when today’s agencies should offer leadership development training, the answers were dramatically different. Over 80% believed that leadership development should begin either immediately after field training (42%) or when officers become eligible for supervisory positions (40%). Only a small minority (< 14%) believed agencies should wait until promotion to a first-line supervisory position to provide such training.
This finding carries important implications about the time it takes to develop leadership competencies. Communication, ethical decision-making, mentoring, organizational awareness, and strategic thinking all take years to develop. Agencies that wait until promotion to begin leadership preparation may inadvertently place employees in leadership positions before they have had adequate opportunities to learn and grow.
Finding #6: How Agencies Value and Evaluate Formal Education and Leadership Training
While many participants were aware of some popular training programs and graduate degrees, familiarity with many university-based, regional, specialized, and emerging programs was surprisingly limited. This finding suggests that the leadership-development marketplace remains fragmented and that many leaders and officers may not be fully aware of the opportunities available to them.
The findings also highlight the continuing importance of formal education. Almost 70% of those responding to the question about higher education (n = 145) had graduate education beyond the bachelor’s degree (72.4%), including:
- Graduate certificates (8.3%)
- Master’s degrees (58.6%)
- Doctorates (5.5%)
Respondents viewed formal education as an important component of leadership development. For example, over 85% of respondents believed a bachelor’s degree was at least somewhat (35%) or very important (50.3%). Similarly, over 80% felt a graduate degree was at least somewhat (38.5%) important or very important (42%).
While not always a requirement for promotion, advanced formal education can provide broader perspectives, critical-thinking skills, analytical capabilities, and exposure to cross-disciplinary ideas that may complement operational experience and leadership training.
Quality Matters More Than Convenience
When it comes to leadership training programs, nearly nine out of ten respondents rated overall program quality as highly important, while factors such as geographic proximity, hybrid delivery formats, and minimizing time away from work received considerably less emphasis. Experienced leaders appear willing to invest time and effort in development opportunities when those opportunities provide meaningful value.
Leadership-focused curricula, competency-based instruction, innovative content, and evidence-based curricula all also received strong support. Respondents appear to value programs grounded in research, demonstrated effectiveness, and practical application. Leadership-development providers should view this as a reminder that quality content remains the most important feature of successful programs.
Only 36% of respondents reported that some type of deliverable (a presentation to command staff, a written report, or some other application of their learning) was required by their agency after participation in an external leadership training program. Another 35% said nothing was required, and under 30% said such a deliverable was required only in limited circumstances. This has implications for the overall cost benefit to the agency when just some individuals are approved to obtain such training.
How Agencies Select Leadership Programs
Internal recommendations from command staff ranked highest, followed by past positive experiences, organizational reputation, supervisor recommendations, and peer recommendations. In other words, decisions about which leadership training opportunities to provide to staff remain heavily influenced by professional networks and organizational experience. Reputation matters. Positive experiences matter. Trusted recommendations matter.
For educational institutions and leadership-development providers, the implications of our survey are significant. Programs that consistently deliver high quality programs with current, relevant curricula, and those addressing key leadership competencies are more likely to gain influence through professional networks. Strong reputations appear to be built through participant experiences and what is brought back to the agencies upon completion, rather than marketing alone.
What Agencies Can Do Now
Several practical lessons for agencies emerge from the findings.
- Begin Leadership Development Earlier
Waiting until promotion may limit opportunities to prepare future leaders effectively, as well as limit the ability of individuals at all ranks to serve as leaders. - Agencies Should Invest Heavily in Supervisors
Leadership training for supervisors ranked among the highest priorities in the survey, reflecting the critical role first-line supervisors play in shaping culture, communication, employee experiences, performance, and accountability. - Create Internal Pathways for Leadership Growth
Mentoring, developmental assignments, creating a learning culture, and coaching opportunities all contribute to leadership capacity. - Treat Leadership Development as an Organizational Strategy
Developing future leaders requires sustained investment and long-term commitment. It isn’t just an isolated training function or a box to tick after the fact on a set of requirements. - Require Officers in Leadership Programs to Provide Some Deliverable Upon Completion
Whether it’s making a presentation to command staff or peers, providing an application of their learning to an agency project, or simply writing a report, agencies wishing to maximize cost-benefit ratios should require a final product after the leadership program is over. - Prioritize Program Quality Over Convenience
High-quality, evidence-informed, competency-based programs are more likely to produce meaningful outcomes than programs selected primarily because they’re inexpensive or easy to attend.
Bottom Line
The findings from this survey provide a valuable snapshot of how experienced law enforcement leaders view leadership education, training, and career development.
Several themes stand out. Ethical leadership remains foundational. Leadership development should begin earlier than it traditionally has. Supervisory training and development deserve substantial attention. Quality matters more than convenience. A process for mentoring and cultivating internal leaders remains essential.
Perhaps most importantly, the findings reinforce that there is no single path to leadership. Future leaders are developed through a combination of formal education, leadership training, mentoring relationships, professional experiences, and organizational support mechanisms. Agencies that intentionally invest in those pathways will be better positioned to create strong leadership pipelines and meet the challenges facing policing in the years ahead.
Understanding where your own agency stands today will help you get ahead of these challenges. NPI’s Organizational Assessment gives command staff an evidence-based look at agency structure and culture, then builds a practical roadmap for closing the leadership-development gaps this survey identified.
Learn how NPI’s Organizational Assessments work.
References
Amendola, K. L., Rineer, J., Valdovinos Olson, M., Dolly, C., & Taniguchi, T. (2026). Adverse impacts of organizational stress on officer health and wellness: Causes, correlates, and mitigation (Final Research Report, Award No. 2020-R2-CX-0005). National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice; National Police Foundation & RTI International. https://www.policinginstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Organizational-Stress_FINAL-March2026.pdf
Bragg, D. J. (2013). Vision, values and vitality: The quest to build sustainable leadership in the Queensland Police Service. In 8th International Symposium on Sustainable Leadership.
https://instituteforsustainableleadership.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/ISL-conf-proceedings-2013.pdf
Calams, S. (2024, November 26). ‘Perpetually tired’: What police officers are saying about fatigue in the ‘What Cops Want’ survey. Police1. https://www.police1.com/what-cops-want/perpetually-tired-what-police-officers-are-saying-about-fatigue-in-the-what-cops-want-survey
Del Pozo, B., Rouhani, S., Clark, M. H., Atkins, D., Andraka-Christou, B., & Martins, K. F. (2024). Understaffed and beleaguered: a national survey of chiefs of police about the post-George Floyd era. Policing: An International Journal, 47(5), 846-860. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-12-2023-0171
Frade, B., & Walsh, J. P. (2026). Police education and training: A scoping review of the research literature. The Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X261418852
Hoggett, J., Redford, P., Toher, D., & White, P. (2019). Challenges for police leadership: Identity, experience, legitimacy and direct entry. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 34(2), 145-155. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-018-9264-2
James, L., James, S., & Atherley, L. (2024). Evaluating the effectiveness of a fatigue training intervention for the Seattle Police Department: Results from a randomized control trial. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 21(4), 1121–1135. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-024-09624-x
Magurno, J. (2025, February 4). Improving police leadership development. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin. https://leb.fbi.gov/articles/featured-articles/improving-police-leadership-development
Martin, H. C., Rogers, C., Samuel, A. J., & Rowling, M. (2017). Serving from the top: police leadership for the twenty-first century. International Journal of Emergency Services, 6(3), 209-219. https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/106089/3/Serving%20from%20Top%20Revised%20.pdf
Mastrofski, S. D. (2006). Police organization and management issues for the next decade. Washington DC: National Institute of Justice. https://www.bermudapolice.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Next-decade-2007-Washington.pdf
Miller, H. A., Watkins, R. J., & Webb, D. (2009). The use of psychological testing to evaluate law enforcement leadership competencies and development. Police Practice and Research, 10(1), 49–60. https://doi.org/10.1080/15614260802128575
Modise, J. M. (2023). Senior Management in Police Leadership are Comprehensive of the Procedures, Regulations, and Customs Related to Policing Leadership Development. International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology, 8(8), 3046–3053.
https://www.ijisrt.com/assets/upload/files/IJISRT23AUG721.pdf
National Advisory Commission on Higher Education for Police Officers. (1979). Proceedings of the National Symposium on Higher Education for Police Officers. Washington, DC: Police Foundation. https://www.scribd.com/doc/199903418/Police-Foundation-Proceedings-of-the-National-Symposium-on-Higher-Education-for-Police-Officers?utm_source=chatgpt.com
National Policing Institute. (2026). Shift work, fatigue, and overtime in policing: Balancing officer wellness and public safety [In Focus brief]. https://www.policinginstitute.org/infocus/infocus-shift-work-fatigue-and-overtime-in-policing-balancing-officer-wellness-and-public-safety/
Schafer, J. A. (2009). Developing effective leadership in policing: Perils, pitfalls, and paths forward. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management, 32(2), 238–260. https://doi.org/10.1108/13639510910958163
Strecher, V. G. (1988). Stimuli of police education: Wickersham and LBJ’s commission. The Justice Professional, 3(2), 298-319. https://doi.org/10.1080/1478601X.1988.10382993
Tyson, J., & Charman, S. (2025). Leaving the table: Organisational (in) justice and the relationship with police officer retention. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 25(4), 1016-1032. https://doi.org/10.1177/17488958231191648
Wang, S.-Y. K., Sun, I. Y., Wu, Y., & Chen, F.-L. (2024). Explaining police procedural justice in a democracy: An expanded internal-external model. Police Quarterly, 27(1), 3–30. https://doi.org/10.1177/10986111231169278
Never miss an issue of InFocus
Share