Building Better Police Departments From the Inside Out

American policing is in trouble.

After peaking in 2004 with 64% of the public saying they basically trust the police, confidence sank to a low of 43% by 2022, from which it’s barely recovered, according to Gallup.

But that average conceals a landscape fragmented by race, class, and politics. According to the Pew Research Center, nearly nine out of 10 Democrats support major changes in policing, while only 14% of Republicans do. Two-thirds of all Americans say police treat Black people less fairly than others, a view embraced by almost all Black adults. In general, the lower you go in education and income, the more trust in police falls.

This distrust has an emotional impact on the human beings who comprise America’s police force. As Texas State University crime scientist Tamara Herold describes (based on others’ research), 80% of police are beset by chronic stress; one in four suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression; and suicide rates are 54% higher than in the general population. In many agencies, resignations are rising and recruitment is faltering.

Herold has served as senior advisor to the National Institute of Justice at the U.S. Department of Justice, and developed the pathbreaking Place Network Investigations violence reduction strategy. Her Center for Problem-Oriented Policing serves as a major clearinghouse for law enforcement strategies.

In searching abroad for alternative models of policing, Herold found Colonel Dr. Bernd Burger of the Bavarian State Police in Germany. He introduced her to Markus Ebner, an Austrian psychologist who has developed a new model of “positive leadership” and studied its implementation in police agencies.

I interviewed all three of them at the European Conference on Positive Psychology in Dublin, Ireland, in July. Here is an edited transcript of our conversation.

Jeremy Adam Smith: Tamara, how would you characterize the emotional state of American policing today?

Tamara Herold: It varies across jurisdictions, but overall morale is much lower than it was 10 years ago.

The statistics reflect that. Agencies across the United States are struggling with recruitment, retention, and officer well-being.

Policing has gone through an extraordinarily difficult decade. While many professions face similar challenges, policing occupies a unique role in society. Without a healthy police force, it’s difficult to have a healthy society.

In recent years, police officers have also been heavily criticized in the United States. Some of that scrutiny has been entirely justified. Serious misconduct deserves public attention and accountability.

But one consequence is that many people who have never personally interacted with a police officer now begin those encounters with distrust. That creates an enormous challenge for officers who are trying to help, because successful policing depends on public trust.

JAS: Markus, tell me about positive leadership. What is it?

Markus Ebner: Positive leadership is a leadership style that fosters positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment among employees. It’s measurable, it can be developed, and we can study its outcomes scientifically. We call our model PERMA-Lead.

 

JAS: What are the benefits of positive leadership?

ME: There are benefits at several levels.

For employees, positive leadership is associated with lower stress and fewer symptoms of burnout. Leaders themselves also experience less stress and burnout.

At the team level, people cooperate more, support one another, and create a healthier workplace atmosphere.

At the organizational level, the benefits are measurable, as well. In one study of supermarkets, customers spent more money when stores were led by positive leaders, and employee sick days were lower. So positive leadership isn’t just good for people—it also benefits organizations financially.

   

JAS: You’ve studied positive leadership in policing. What did you find?

ME: We found strong relationships between positive leadership and important outcomes. Teams led by positive leaders reported lower burnout risk. They also felt more responsible for the team’s collective success.

When leaders were less positive, officers focused primarily on their own individual responsibilities rather than the success of the team. I think that’s especially important from a democratic perspective, because policing depends on collaboration and shared responsibility.

JAS: Bernd, how did you discover positive leadership, and why was it relevant to your work as a police commander?

Bernd Burger: I came to it almost by accident.

When I became a commander, I realized that younger officers were very different from my generation. They wanted explanations. The blunt, highly critical leadership style that had been common when I started my career simply didn’t work anymore.

I began giving presentations about younger generations and how police organizations could improve recruitment and retention. Eventually, I realized that leadership was really the central issue. People join organizations because of leadership, and they stay because of leadership.

That led me to Markus’s book on positive leadership. After more than 20 years in policing, I immediately recognized that the best leaders I had worked with naturally embodied the five pillars of positive leadership.

For police officers, that’s especially valuable because we don’t have much time to read scientific research. We need approaches that are practical, understandable, and easy to implement.

I became certified in the approach and now help police agencies throughout Germany and Switzerland integrate positive leadership into their organizations.

Germany also has an advantage in that police officers receive extensive education. Basic officers complete at least two and a half years of training. Middle managers complete another two years of study, and senior leaders earn an additional two-year master’s degree. In total, I received six and a half years of education before reaching senior leadership.

About a year and a half ago, Germany updated its national police leadership regulations. The new guidance emphasizes giving officers meaning and purpose, but it doesn’t explain how to do that. Positive leadership provides exactly those practical tools.

JAS: What are the biggest challenges to implementing positive leadership?

BB: Police organizations are traditionally hierarchical. When people rise through the ranks, they sometimes assume they no longer need to explain their decisions. They simply give orders.

But people need to understand why they’re being asked to do something.

Purpose is especially important for younger officers. People often say that policing’s purpose is simply to provide safety. I ask them, “If that’s all our purpose is, what’s the difference between us and the police in North Korea or Russia?”

 

For me, our purpose is to protect both safety and freedom. We must be transparent. We are accountable under the law. If we make mistakes, we must acknowledge them and learn from them.

That broader purpose helps officers understand why honesty, accountability, and learning matter.

Another challenge is bureaucracy. Police organizations operate within legal systems, and laws are written in very formal, dry language. That style often carries over into everyday communication.

Formal emails rarely make anyone feel appreciated or inspired. Supervisors become accustomed to communicating that way.

One thing I try to do in my workshops is help leaders see that they can give clear instructions while also being warm, respectful, and encouraging. You don’t lose authority by communicating positively. In fact, people usually respond much better.

JAS: Tamara, how can we apply these models and insights to improving American policing?

TH: First-line supervisors are absolutely critical. If you ask most police chiefs who’s really running an agency day to day, they’ll tell you it’s the first-line supervisors.

That’s why we’re focusing on Markus’s PERMA leadership training for those leaders.

We also need to rethink police education. Other countries invest three, four, or even six years educating police officers. In the United States, we often expect someone to be ready after four or six months of training.

At the same time, many people argue that policing is already too expensive. I think that’s shortsighted.

JAS: Yet many agencies seem to be responding with signing bonuses and higher salaries.

TH: Those measures are understandable, but they’re really bandages.

After losing so many excellent officers, agencies are trying to stop the bleeding. Recruitment bonuses might be intended to help fill vacancies, but they don’t address the underlying causes.

We need to ask why the profession reached this point in the first place. That includes investing in better leadership, better education, and more comprehensive training.

As Bernd mentioned earlier, it’s like putting makeup on someone who’s suffering from internal bleeding. They may look better temporarily, but the real problem remains untreated.

Too often, legislation is written in response to the worst examples rather than asking how to help the overwhelming majority of officers who are already doing excellent work every day.

Instead of focusing exclusively on preventing failure, we should also invest in helping good officers become even better.

JAS: Tell me about your work in Austin and with police departments across the United States.

TH: I’m a professor at Texas State University, and much of my work focuses on helping police departments develop evidence-based crime prevention strategies, particularly for violent crime.

What I’ve learned is that even the best strategies require excellent leadership. Successful implementation depends on leaders who know how to guide people effectively.

One concept I’ve learned from Markus’s team is what they call “authentic excellence.” It combines personal strengths with professional competencies.

My work has traditionally focused on building competencies—teaching police officers the science of crime prevention and community dynamics. Pairing those competencies with leaders’ individual strengths has enormous potential.

JAS: What are you hoping to learn through your research?

TH: We already know that positive leadership is associated with lower burnout and healthier organizations.

The next question is whether leadership training actually produces those outcomes over time.

We’ll be evaluating the effects of PERMA leadership training in American policing for the first time. We want to know how long the benefits last, whether some officers benefit more than others, and what kinds of organizational outcomes improve.

Will sick leave decline? Will public complaints decrease? Could positive interactions increase so much that citizen commendations become more common?

These are all empirical questions.

If taxpayers are investing in police training, we have a responsibility to ensure that the training actually works. The existing evidence suggests it will, but rigorous evaluation is essential.