Research in Brief: Considering Officer Developmental Levels as a Component of Individual and Organizational Success

When law enforcement officers experience failure in a specialty role or task, agency supervisors and administrators often conclude that the responsibility for the failure rests with the individual. Although this is sometimes the case, these failures can also be the result of a misalignment between the complexity of the work assignment and the developmental level of the officer—or a misapplied leadership style that fails to include a structured development and support plan for the individual within that role. These task and role failures can have dramatic consequences for the officer, the agency, and the community it serves. Accordingly, it is in everyone’s interests to engage processes that mitigate the potential for such failures.