𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐑𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞

By: Chief Scott Hughes

Over the past several weeks, we've watched communities debate whether they should continue using automated license plate reader technology. In Cleveland, police officials warned that removing the city's Flock camera system would significantly hinder criminal investigations. Despite those concerns, city leaders chose not to renew the contract.

Every community has the right to debate the tools its police department uses. Healthy debate is part of good government.

Just days ago in Harrison, Ohio, investigators used Flock camera footage to help identify the truck involved in a fatal hit-and-run that claimed the life of a bicyclist. (Source: FOX19).

That's exactly what these tools are designed to do. They don't replace good police work; they enhance it by providing investigators with evidence that helps identify suspects, solve crimes, and bring offenders to justice.

While investigators in one Ohio community were using technology to identify the driver responsible for a fatal hit-and-run, another community was debating whether those same tools should exist at all.

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬.

Leadership is having the courage to make difficult decisions—and then standing behind them when they become unpopular.

Political pressure is a reality in policing. Council meetings can become heated, emails can turn hostile, and controversial incidents often bring intense media scrutiny. Decisions are challenged, and not everyone will agree with the outcomes. Leadership isn't about pretending those pressures don't exist. Leadership is about refusing to let them become the deciding factor when public safety is at stake.

Unfortunately, that's exactly where too many police leaders are failing today.

The moment a controversial incident occurs, an activist group starts making noise, or the city council begins to feel uncomfortable, some leaders start looking for something to sacrifice to ease the pressure. Maybe it's an officer. Maybe it's a policy. Maybe it's training, equipment, or a piece of technology that's been making officers safer and helping solve crimes for years.

Not because getting rid of it is the right decision, but because it's the path of least resistance.

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩. It's self-preservation.

If your first instinct under pressure is to throw your officers, your policies, or your equipment overboard, then 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐢𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐦.

Leaders don't earn trust by avoiding difficult decisions. They earn it by making principled decisions and standing behind them when the criticism comes.

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝—not when everyone agrees with you, but when doing the right thing comes with a political price tag.

No serious investigator would argue that license plate reader technology has no value. The question has never been whether it works. The question is whether leaders dare to defend it when the politics become uncomfortable.

The sad part is that officers know it. They know which leaders will fight for them and which ones will start talking about "optics" the first time a television camera shows up. They know who's making decisions based on facts and who's making them based on tomorrow morning's headlines.

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐞.

Whether it's automated license plate readers today, proactive policing tomorrow, or some other proven public safety tool next month, the pattern is becoming all too familiar. Rather than standing up and explaining why a tool exists, too many leaders find it easier to distance themselves from it the moment the political pressure begins.

Public safety has never been improved by leaders who panic when the politics get difficult. Communities are safest when leaders dare to explain, defend, and improve good policing rather than abandon it.

𝐂𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩.

This profession doesn't need leaders who change course every time the political winds shift. It needs leaders who understand that criticism comes with the job, who have the backbone to defend good officers, good policy, and good policing, and who refuse to abandon any of them simply because the politics became inconvenient.

If you're more concerned about your next contract, your next promotion, your next election, or protecting your own reputation than you are about protecting your officers and your community...

𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈.

𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐫.

Scott Hughes is a retired Ohio police chief, national law enforcement instructor, expert witness, and founder of Crosden Consulting. With nearly three decades in law enforcement, he writes about police leadership, officer safety, organizational excellence, and public safety policy. Through consulting, training, and expert witness services, he helps agencies build stronger leaders, improve performance, and make defensible decisions.