Following a recent HMICS cultural inspection of Police Scotland, along with Casey and other reviews in England and Wales, I was inspired to record a series of deep-dive podcasts into police culture. I wanted to pin down what ‘culture’ means exactly, give examples of toxic police cultures, examples of good practice, and more importantly, what YOU can do as a leader to contribute to positive change.
In this blog I summarise some of the key points and embed my recent podcasts. All of which will help you answer the following increasingly common police promotion board question, or a variation thereof:
“As a newly promoted Sergeant / Inspector / Chief Inspector, what contribution will you make to improve our culture and working environment?”
What is Culture and Why is it Important?
Everyone in policing from Police Constables to Chief Officers, the College of Policing, Federation, the public and the press, Police and Crime Commissioners, the IOPC and HMIC are often voicing concerns about ‘police culture’. More importantly for you as an aspiring police leader, promotion boards are asking interview questions about improving culture. But few seem to be able to articulate what this somewhat intangible notion means.
So what is culture exactly? Here’s one definition from McKinsey to get you started (I give several in my deep-dive Culture Part 1 episode embedded below):
“Culture is the cumulative effect of what people do and how they do it.”
Think about that. It’s a fairly precise definition, yet is applicable from organisations to countries. It also lends some clues on how you might go about improving things as you paint a brighter future to your promotion panel of things under your leadership. Here’s a more detailed article on the more academic perspective and definitions of police culture if you’re interested in such details.
So why is culture important? On the external factors, this is summed up in the Casey Review of the Metropolitan Police. Ultimately, police culture impacts upon the public trust and confidence in policing, and the entire Peelian bedrock of ‘policing by consent’. Internally, culture impacts on people’s wellbeing, motivation, and job satisfaction. With that in mind, it’s easy to see how culture directly relates to performance levels attained.
14 Characteristics of a Toxic Police Culture
Toxic workplaces make people feel punished, guilty, humiliated, and defensive. Behaviours include bullying, belittling, and manipulating. People become afraid to speak up and this obviously leads to unethical behaviour and misconduct.
Reviewing the literature and various police reports, I’ve summed up for you the characteristics of toxic culture in the above infographic. Confusion about the role, excessive workloads, lack of career development, and high turnover are just some common examples.
Having these characteristics means that culture can go bad. This has not just been picked up in formal reviews into specific forces, such as Casey for the Met or HMICS’s cultural audit of Police Scotland. It’s also demonstrated in national reports like the formal State of Policing Report, which identified that standards and culture must improve. Additionally, the fact that Professional Standards Departments have doubled in size since ‘austerity’ began is the smoke suggesting a fire.
I expand upon all the characteristics and when culture goes bad in Part 1 of my premium mini-series into culture…
How Police Culture Can be Improved
“A healthy culture motivates people to give their best and contribute consistently.” – Simon Sinek
With locally espoused values of kindness, compassion, and caring, forces are clearly setting their intentions for change. And there are at least pockets of good practice in existence in policing when it comes to improving culture.
As I explain in Part 2 of my culture podcast mini-series, Lincolnshire Police have embarked on their own wide-ranging journey to improve culture and make values meaningful to their staff and officers. This began after asking people across the force:
“What kind of organisation do you want to work in?”
Much of this is getting the basics done well. This links well to the core functions and dimensions of the role of Sergeant and role of Inspector / Chief Inspector. I explain these clearly and in some depth in my premium, structured, rank-specific toolkits, which have stood the test of time against not just the CVF but a myriad of behaviour frameworks over the years.
While I’ve synthesised and defined for you the signs of a toxic culture, here’s the 9 characteristics of a healthy culture, which again I expand upon in Podcast 2:
- Respected
- Sense of purpose and belonging
- Listened to and understood
- Shared values and genuine
- Welcomed and inclusive
- Growth mindset encouraged
- Supported and valued
- Psychological safety
- Confidence
In the finale and Part 3 of this culture mini-series, I explain the myriad of things you can do to improve culture by taking ownership as a leader. Developing your emotional intelligence, being proactively supportive of wellbeing, and being smart about how you give feedback are just three key examples to get you started.
I’ll embed below when available, but you can subscribe to my podcast and support my work today, to ensure you don’t miss out on this valueable (and enjoyable!) way to develop yourself as a leader.
I hope you’ve found this overview into police culture helpful, along with the definitions, 14 signs of toxic police culture, and how you as a leader can take ownership to put it right. In my premium police culture podcast trilogy, I go into far more depth over 3 hours on these aspects. It’s just one of the dozens of hours of material available to my podcast subscribers, accessible for just £4.99 a month with the ability to cancel any time.
Until next time and as always, I wish you every success on your promotion ambitions and please get in touch if you’d like some assistance.
Kind Regards, Steve
Want to go further right now? Hit the ground running with your promotion preparation. Get your personal digital promotion toolkit, and/or my market-leading Police Promotion Masterclass. There really is nothing else like it to effectively prepare you for success in your leadership aspirations. Contact me to arrange personal coaching support, or why not also try my podcast for ongoing police leadership CPD.
