MAKING THE TRANSITION TO
CHIEF OF POLICE
Gordon Ramsay
Duluth Police Chief
The Basics….
 Get to know your boss
 Get on the same page
 Why were you chosen to lead?
 Who’s your top staff?
 What are their strengths and weaknesses
Labor Relations
 Meet monthly with union (s)
 Build relationships with board members
 Identify common goals and work on them
 Check your ego...
 Arbitrate only when absolutely necessary
 Mediate your grievances when possible
 Seek advice from other police leaders
The Basics cont…..
 Get to know your councilors/leaders
 Meet the movers and shakers
 Communicate you are in it long term
 Pick easy problems and solve them
The Basics…
 Department Friendships
 You will lose some
 Extra Duty Changes
 Dangers with your friends
 Back dooring command staff
The Basics cont..
 Become involved with other chiefs
 MN Chiefs Assoc
 Area Chiefs Assoc
 Seek peers for second opinions
 Recent case of untruthfulness
Mission, Vision, Values
 Where are we going?
 How many of you have these?
 What are they?
 How does this help?
Be the Greatest Role Model
 Remember-You are not invisible
 People are watching
 People are talking!
 http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local
/New-Haven-Police-Chief-Under-Fire-forInappropriate-Behavior-285577411.html
 Don’t do things you punish staff for.
The Basics…
 Don’t forget how to be a cop.
 Gain respect by going out and taking some
calls-by yourself.
 Remember the “little things.”
 Cards for birthdays, births, deaths, etc.
 Funerals-will be remembered for not being
there
Budget 101
 Must knows! Need to sell, sell, sell
 City budget and police budget
 What are your city’s revenue sources?
 What percentage is the police budget?
 What percentage is salary and benefits?
 What is your overtime budget?
 Where are you at with your budget to date?
Budget 101 Cont…
 Good to know
 Fleet budget
 Miles traveled, gallons used,
 Admin costs (blue pages, building maint,
training)
 Revenue generated by pd (fines, permits, etc)
Budgeting…
 Budget Preparation
 Prepare justified budget
 Utilize facts, charts, graphs
 Plan with budget office and City manager
 Will likely present to Council
 Know priorities of council members
 Rehearse and critique council presentation
 Be a political realist
Budget Cont…
 Purchasing requirements
 Bids
 Signing authority
 What needs council approval
 Purchasing process
 Contracts
 What is your signing authority?
2016 POLICE BUDGET
REVENUE
Proposed revenue $2,836,500
OVERTIME REIMBURSEMENT
Data as of 10/1/15
2016 BUDGET BRIDGE SCHEDULE
Expense changes by type:
2015 Adopted 2016 Proposed
Salaries
$12,146,500
Overtime & other wages $697,700
Change
$12,789,700
$643,200
Increase due to contracts, steps &
↑ longevity expenses
$697,700
0
−
status quo
Benefits
$5,157,200
$5,260,000
$102,800
State increase of employer share of
police PERA, HCSP per contracts &
increase to family coverage from
↑ single
Supplies
Motor Fuel
Fleet Service charges
$163,800
$301,200
$393,300
$163,800
$228,900
$331,200
0
$72,300
$62,100
− status quo
↓ Decrease to reflect actual usage
↓ Decrease to reflect actual usage
Other service & charges
$802,600
$857,400
$54,800
$19,662,300
$20,328,700
$666,400
↑ Increase due to phone & software
licenses/maintenance agreements
↑
POLICE OPERATION BUDGET
2012 - CURRENT
2012 Reimbursement through Grants
PATROL OFFICER % OF DAY
• Dedicated Time should be less than 60%
Budget Discussion
 What techniques do you use to stay on
budget?
 What strategies do you use to educate
your council members and city manager?
 Under budget complaints?
 Example you can never make everyone happy
Use of Force/Early Intervention Systems
Early Intervention Systems Cont.
Early Intervention Systems
Misuse of Funds, Cars, and Expense
Accounts
 Inadequate policy and monitoring
 Failing to exercise good judgment
Surveys
 Importance of regular surveys both internally
and external
 Utilize them for planning
Citizens Survey
Ratings of Contact with Police Department
 93% rated contact with the police as excellent, good or fair
in 2014
Percent “excellent” “good” and “fair”
Establish Performance Measures
Performance Measures
 Downtown Safety
13% increase in the safety feeling DT after dark from 2009
9% increase in the feeling of safety from violent crime
 Surveillance Cameras
Expanding City wide (Downtown and Lincoln Park next phase)
 Technology Improvement
License Plate Readers, 3Pi, early intervention system, GPS in cars
 Crime Prevention
Satisfaction 6% up over last year
Increasing recruitment for block clubs and citizen patrols
Transitioning to Chief
 Uniform versus non-uniform
 Working the street and taking calls
 Cutting the red tape so your folks get what
they need
 When bad things happen-be visible
It is about relationships
What Kind of Chief are you?
 Internal or External?
 What type is usually more successful?
 Depends on community
 Accept as many speaking invitations as
possible
 Create a presentation that you can use
 Use stats, charts, graphs
Policy Management
 Policy failure ramifications
 POST
 Lawsuits
 Forfeiture example (under scrutiny right now)
 Lexipol
 Policy Standardization
Know your Government Procedures
Resolution
 a formal expression of opinion or intention made,
usually after voting, by a formal organization, a
legislature, a club, or other group
Ordinance
 an authoritative rule or law; a decree or command.
 a public injunction or regulation: a city ordinance
against excessive horn blowing.
Government Action
 How long before a new ordinance
becomes law?
 How about a new State Law?
 Who’s your State legislator, senator?
 Do they know you?
 Know how to testify before a council or
other government body
 Come to the Chief’s Legislative Day!
Roberts Rules
 How do you address your council?
 Address the President and councilors
 If it is a committee meeting-Chair X and X
Technology
 Need to stay up on current technology
 License Plate Reader
 Camera Systems (Moose Lake/Chisholm)
 Body Cameras etc
 Internet and Social Media
 Department web site (how may hits a month)
 Face Book, Twitter, Nixle, and many others
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eUeL3
n7fDs
 http://www.iacpsocialmedia.org/
Common Mistakes Police Chiefs Make
 Fail to Plan
 Too often focus on past and not the future
 Lead the PD into the future
 Set aside time to think about the future
How do we plan?
 SWOT Analysis
 Examines current state of agency
 Examines internal strengths/weaknesses
Name some!
 Examines external opportunities/threats
Name some!
Planning Cont….
 Strategic Planning
 How does your department compare?





Clearance rate
Annual calls for service
Budget
Part 1 and 2 crimes
Surveys
 What do you need to get to accomplish your
goals?
Strategic Planning……
 Step Two
 Establish Goals
 Prioritize by level of importance
 Chose only a few that are attainable and realistic
Planning Cont…
 Performance Measures/Goals
 Survey
 Public Wants/Perceptions
Planning Cont..
 Successorship
 Plan for your departure the day you start
 A chief who stays too long in a position rather
than long enough.
 A chief who stays too long does much more
damage than those who don’t stay long
enough
Planning
 Mentor your future leaders
 Good mentors;
 Recognize potential
 Tolerate mistakes
 Are flexible
 Patient
 Ability to encourage and build up others
 Ability to provide opportunities
 Training, promotions, varied experience
Planning
 What do good mentors do?
 Give timely advice
 Provide literature (articles, books, to another
offer perspective)
 Help increase other’s confidence, status,
credibility
 Provide opportunities
 Training (FBI Acad, Northwestern, BCA MGT,
CLEO)
Missing the Clues of the
Department’s Culture
 What is culture
Values guide culture and hold an organization
together.
Culture change can be slow and painful
Failure to Communicate (effectively)
 Rule one on communication with cops
 Who made that up?
 Rule two
 Successful communication involves listening
Duluth’s PTO failure
Poor communication causes
Confusion on priorities, duplication of effort, poor
morale, poor productivity
Successful Chiefs Communicate by….
Have face time with their leaders
Make internal communications a top priority
Find ways to articulate and communicate vision
Keep staff informed of your expectations
Find internal informants to help you keep the pulse
Get out of the office and walk around-and talk!
Are open, honest, transparent
Failure to Delegate
 Why don’t we delegate
 Fear of losing authority
 Fear of work being done poorly
 Fear of work being done better
 Fear of depending on others
 Lack of leadership training and positive
delegation experience
 Fear of losing value in an organization
Delegation Cont….
Micro-managing is a cardinal sin of a poor
leadership
Too many strings attached and sloppy
delegation is a morale killer
Delegation should match the staff member’s
follow-through ability
Chief’s who are Dictators
 Dictators take the fun out of life and work!
 PD leaders are like stockholders
 They should have a say in the PD direction
 More staff ownership=more effort
Allow for new ideas
 Staff with new ideas move us forward
 PD’s usually kill creative folks off
 Usually these creative staff members truly
want to make things better…
Fail to Praise Staff
 Everyone thrives on praise
 We underestimate the power of praise
 Learn to read the varying levels of praise
your staff needs
 Ideas-thank you notes, commendations
Paperwork before People
 Signs of a paper pusher
 People bother me, they are interruptions
 I prefer to be alone to get my work done
 I’m impatient
 My self-worth is based on my accomplishment
 This job would be great, except for the people
Paper pusher therapy
 Go to lunch with your staff members
 Manage by walking around
 See people as number one
 Delegate more
 Learn to “ransack” instead of reading
everything
 Take time off with staff, family and
friends
Remembering People Cont..
 Successful chiefs have to master great people skills
 Learn how to manage paperwork and stay in touch with staff
 To make a difference we need to spend time with staff

It takes face time to build relationships
 People are opportunities, not interruptions

Type A folks need to see people as a chief’s real work
Mistake Police Chiefs Make
 Let Their Ego Get the Best of Them
 Abuse of authority
 Poor delegating
 Don’t listen
 Dictatorship in making decisions
 Don’t let go
 Egocentric manner
 Fight with boss/council
Why People Follow the Chief
Positional Power
Follow because you’re the chief
Relationship
People follow because they want to
Results
People follow because what you’ve done
Reproduction
People follow because what you’ve done for them
Respect
People follow because of who you are and what you represent
Avoiding being the “Ego Chief”
 Put the organization ahead of your own




well being
Effective chiefs see themselves at the
bottom of an inverted pyramid
Check your ego at the door
Listen to staff and admit your errors
While command and control is what we
are about-use it wisely
Relationship Building
 Must build relationships
 Other government officials
 Politicians
 Community Organizations
 Chamber, DT Councils, Domestic Aslt Orgs etc.
 Community Members
 Attend community meetings
 Fundraisers
 Community meetings
 Area and State Chiefs Associations
Building Employee Relationships
 Lose the Ego
 Listen, listen, and listen some more
 Get to know your staff
 If not names, general info, kids, animals, etc.
 Show sincere interest
 Send a card or letter home for a job well done
 Return calls and e-mails to staff
 Redirect them if they have not gone through
proper channels
Gordon Ramsay
Duluth Police Department
2030 N. Arlington Avenue
Duluth, MN 55811
218-730-5020
gramsay@duluthmn.gov
http://www.duluthmn.gov/police