Police Leadership in Times of Social, Economic and Political Turbulence
| Author | J. C. Alderson |
| Published date | 01 April 1976 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X7604900203 |
| Date | 01 April 1976 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
J.
C.
ALDERSON,
Q.P.M.
Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall
In his end of term address to the National Police College at
Bramshill, Mr. Alderson considers
POLICE LEADERSHIP IN TIMES OF
SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND
POLITICAL TURBULENCE
I always considered it to be a privilege to attend this College
as a student or as a member of the Directing staff. You will under-
stand therefore that I regard the invitation to deliver this final
address as an honour and a privilege. I have no doubt that some
of what I have to say may have been touched on in one form or
another during your course of study.
If
that is so then my remarks
may add to or subtract from your understanding.
If
they have not
been mentioned then I have indeed chosen well.
You are about to leave this College after spending a few months
here in the pursuit of knowledge and understanding in order to
increase your effectiveness as police officers and more importantly
as leaders of police officers.
I hope that amongst many other things you have learned you
have come to understand the police function in the social, econo-
mic, and political context of its time and place.
If
you have then
you will understand why the German policeman differs from the
French and why the police system of the United States differs from
that of China. More importantly perhaps you will have learned to
understand why and how you differ from your early Victorian
forebears. why you face situations which differ in many respects
from those facing the police in this country only twenty-five years
ago.
If
you have gone some way towards an appreciation of this
kind I have no doubt that you will more easily come to terms with
your own police world and find the capacity to dominate the events
which will add up to your responsibilities in the future.
In the first place you will be aware that the change from material
expansion exemplified by the "swinging sixties" to material re-
gression of the seventies has a number of fundamental implications
A~lm
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