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Introduction
Traditionally, the predominant leadership style of law enforcement leaders has been an authoritarian style, where leaders do not include subordinates in the decision-making process ([10] Beito, 1999). However, within recent years, there has been a transition toward more of a democratic and mutual/shared relationship style, also referred to as Transformational, where subordinates are encouraged to make decisions and set their own goals ([6] Avolio and Bass, 2004; [9] Bass and Avolio, 1997; [10] Beito, 1999; [28] Levasseur, 2005). It is argued that these changes occurred because of the widespread adoption of community policing ([16] Denhardt, 1993), because subordinates are no longer responding to an authoritarian style of leadership, and that the democratic and mutual/shared style is preferred and more effective ([4] Andreescu and Vito, 2010; [25] Krimmel and Lindenmuth, 2001; [38] Silvestri, 2007).
According to the literature, police leader selection has occurred through many avenues, including cognitive testing, but identification and selection of good leaders is still a problem ([22] Green, 2006). It is important to understand and determine the factors that have an effect on or predict leadership style in order to prepare leaders for the future more effectively, to teach them how to keep followers motivated to meet both organizational and community needs and goals, and to keep up with an ever changing environment. This understanding could aid in identifying, selecting, promoting, and training effective police leaders. It will also help researchers gain a better understanding of leadership styles in law enforcement, specifically those of police chiefs, and which characteristics chiefs possess that enable them to be effective leaders.
Literature review
Leadership style definitions
Research regarding leadership styles and effectiveness has revealed conflicting findings ([18] Densten, 2003; [22] Green, 2006; [30] Morreale, 2003; [32] Rasor, 1995), and indicates that police leaders utilize various styles, with no general consensus regarding which style is predominant ([10] Beito, 1999; [12] Caless, 2011; [19] Engel, 2001; [24] Kapla, 2005; [25] Krimmel and Lindenmuth, 2001; [27] Legault, 2005; [41] Villarreal-Watkins, 2001), or what police leadership is exactly, how it should be measured, and if it simply consists of generic leadership styles seen in management positions outside of policing ([2] Adlam and Villiers, 2003; [12] Caless, 2011).
[12] Caless (2011) examined 12 competencies for chief officers set forth...