myAIPMPolice leadership in protracted crises
Last week AIPM attended the Australian and NZ Society of Criminology (ANZSOC) annual conference, where we delivered a presentation, and hosted a global police leaders’ panel on leading through covid-19. Across both engagements the message was clear: covid-19 has been a step change in our understanding of leading through crises. Typically crises have an end point. They run their course, and then normalcy resumes. There is an individual and organisational ‘lift’ that is followed by a trough that enables normal business to resume. However in 2020 the epic Australian bushfire season was followed by the Covid-19 global crisis, giving twin hits of crises that were both cumulative and protracted. While in the US and UK policing of covid restrictions was compounded by large scale protests and high-profile cases of police criminality and misconduct. For senior leaders who have had pivotal roles across jurisdictions through this time, it has proven exhausting. Crisis, transition, and uncertainty have been constant companions.
In these two videos we explore what we know about leadership through protracted and complex crises. AIPM Executive Director Stu Bartels hosts global police leaders Assistant Chief Constable Dr Jackie Sebire, Deputy Commissioner Neil Paterson, and Assistant Chief Steve Hirjak, for a conversation about the changing nature of police-community relations, and the legacy of policing covid. Then AIPM’s Dr Vicki Herrington and AFP Visiting Fellow Dr Jenny Cartwright consider our theoretical understanding of leading in complex crises, including what we know about leaders who do this well, and the questions we need to be asking to ensure we can embed the development of strategic command. What is clear from both videos is that our understanding about leading in complex protracted crises is evolving, and covid-19 has provided a wealth of experience we can draw on.
Watch AIPM Executive Director Stu Bartels hosts global police leaders Assistant Chief Constable Dr Jackie Sebire, Deputy Commissioner Neil Paterson, and Assistant Chief Steve Hirjak