Customer Reviews

Leadership in the LAPD: Walking the Tightrope

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(2)

 

 

Dr. Reese draws exceptional conclusions about the need for high ranking public administrators in the public eye, such as LAPD police chiefs, to balance the fine line between sticking up for the staff of the organization and maintaining a positive public image. The book highlights the careers of several modern day police chiefs in the Los Angeles Police Department and provides an explanation of why each had fallen out of favor by being forced to or unable to "walk the tightrope". The book is exceptional as an historical overview of the LA police force, as a manual on organizational crisis management, and as a piece to begin evaluating one's own role and style within their organization, whether public or private. It will be interesting to use the assertions posited in this book to evaluate the performance of Chief Bratton in the days ahead - he seemed to have sided with the public on the May Day controversy by condemning his own officers, but it will be interesting see how he will handle the next LAPD crisis.

Reese's book is interesting, but in the end, in terms of corruption and brutality, it is very biased and chooses to use the "bad apples" theory as a scapegoat why corruption/brutality happens (this is what the city of Los Angeles and the LAPD commonly cite as the rationale for corruption and brutality). The book is somewhat dry, and while it builds good arguments, it fails at delivering them with good evidence and style. If you're looking for an unbiased (or at least an attempt at unbiased) look at the L.A.P.D and corruption, check out The Thin Blue Line: An In-depth Look at the Policing Practices of the Los Angeles Police Department (Volume 1). It's much more interesting and detailed, and doesn't necessarily side with the LAPD.

Based on interviews with several LAPD officers this is a superb book--one of the best books that I have ever read on leadership.

All of the book reviews that I have read about this book have been excellent; I concur. The author uses 30 officers (including the police chief) to tell the riveting LAPD Story. The book is concise, insightful, and engaging. The book is only 182 pages but I learned a great deal about the history and culture of the LAPD and about the department's leadership dynamics. I read a newspaper article that stated that LAPD Chief Bratton was so impressed by this book that he ordered 250 copies for his command staff to read. It is the best book that I have read on leadership because it does not talk about the concept in the abstract (like many books on the subject) but uses a real case study to examine the phenomenon.

If you are looking for an objective study of leadership in the LAPD, keep looking. The authors emotions and personal bias keep this book from being a serious study of the LAPD.