567. Do the Police Have a Management Problem?

In policing, as in most vocations, the best employees are often promoted into leadership without much training. One economist thinks he can address this problem — and, with it, America’s gun violence.

SOURCESKenneth Corey • , director of outreach and engagement for the Policing Leadership Academy at the University of Chicago and retired chief of department for the New York Police Department. Stephanie Drescher • , operations captain in the City of Madison Police Department. Max Kapustin • , assistant professor of economics and public policy at Cornell University. Jens Ludwig • , economist and director of the Crime Lab at the University of Chicago. Sandy Jo MacArthur • , curriculum design director for the Policing Leadership Academy at the University of Chicago. Sean Malinowski • , D.O.J. strategic site liaison for the Philadelphia Police Department and retired chief of detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department. Sindyanna Paul-Noel • , lieutenant with the City of Miami Police Department. Michael Wolley • , deputy chief of operations with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.

RESOURCES: • " Policing Leadership Academy (PLA) Graduation of Inaugural Cohort • ," by the University of Chicago Crime Lab (2023). • " Policing and Management • ," by Max Kapustin, Terrence Neumann, and Jens Ludwig ( NBER Working Paper, • 2022). • " Getting More Out of Policing in the U.S. • ," by Jens Ludwig, Terrence Neumann, and Max Kapustin ( VoxEU, • 2022). • " University of Chicago Crime Lab Launches National Policing and Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academies • ," by the University of Chicago Crime Lab (2022). • " What Drives Differences in Management? • " by Nicholas Bloom, Erik Brynjolfsson, Lucia Foster, Ron S. Jarmin, Megha Patnaik, Itay Saporta-Eksten, and John Van Reenen ( NBER Working Paper, • 2017). • " Management as a Technology? • " by Nicholas Bloom, Raffaella Sadun, and John Van Reenen ( NBER Working Paper, • 2017). • " Measuring and Explaining Management Practices Across Firms and Countries • ," by Nick Bloom and John Van Reenen ( NBER Working Paper, • 2006). • " Crime, Urban Flight, and the Consequences for Cities • ," by Julie Berry Cullen and Steven D. Levitt ( SSRN, • 1997).

EXTRAS: • " Why Are There So Many Bad Bosses? • " by Freakonomics Radio • (2022). • " What Are the Police for, Anyway? • " by Freakonomics Radio • (2021).