Ideas & Insights, Part 1: Police Culture in the 21st Century

The importance of police culture is widely recognized—the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing noted that “[o]rganizational culture eats policy for lunch” and “[b]ehavior is more likely to conform to culture than rules.” In the view of some within the law enforcement profession, “police culture in America has lost its way.” Certainly, law enforcement executives are quite aware that an important part of the role is to lead and influence the culture within their agencies.