The Role Of Emotions In The Brownwood Police Department

Emotions are part of our DNA. As law enforcement leaders we must be able to manage our emotions in order to create and maintain productive healthy relationships. Emotions are essential and important as they allow others to understand us. When we interact with others, emotions help the other person gauge our feelings and help them understand. Emotions that are not managed can impair our ability to listen and to think logically. A former chief of police for the Brownwood (Texas) Police Department had a difficult time managing his emotions during a time in which the officers were completing a vote of no confidence. The chief allowed anger, frustration, and hostility to take over his emotions and hindered his ability to think logically. In 2016 the Brownwood Police Department hired …show more content…
The department had a difficult time under his autocratic, highly emotional leadership style in which two management studies were conducted. Chief Corley was unable to recognize the signs as he consistently expressed his anger and disappointment through his emotions and retained a high level of control over the officers with no participation. Richard Draft cautions that “This style works well in the fast-food industry where turnover is high and many employees are low skilled.” which corroborates Charles Manz and Henry Sims research study “Found that group hostility to be 30 times greater in autocratic teams than democratic”. Ultimately, there was a vote of no confidence as over 81% of the officers had lost trust and did not believe that chief could lead the department. Officers cited that the chief did not take responsibility as he blamed his negative emotions on others. When Chief Corley heard about the vote of no confidence, or management study, he was not able to control his anger and frustration. Knowing of the inevitability of the no confidence vote, he allowed anger and other negative emotions to impair his ability to think logically. He