The position of municipal police chief: an examination of selection criteria and requisite skills

Abstract

Selection criteria for individuals seeking to become police officers continues to receive attention from practitioners and academicians. However, an area of equal, if not greater importance, selection criteria for police chiefs, continues to receive minimal attention. After examining the findings of a content analysis of advertisements for the position of police chief and conducting a survey of a purposive sample of police chiefs, a national, randomly selected sample of police chiefs was surveyed. The results indicate that police chiefs support police management experience and extensive training and education as two important selection criteria. Furthermore, they indicate that leadership and communication are the two top skills a police chief should possess. A brief discussion of these findings’ implications is offered.