Promotions in Law Enforcement
High-Priority Needs for Improving the Process to
Identify and Select the Next Generation of Police
Leaders
Jeremy D. Barnum, Dustin A. Richardson, Dulani Woods, Kevin D. Lucey,
Meagan E. Cahill, Michael J. D. Vermeer, Brian A. Jackson
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
RESULTS
Bias, disparity, and barriers in promotion
• Develop and promote model policies that are
intended to reduce barriers and improve equity.
• Evaluate the potential impact of flexible policies
both in policing and in other industries (with a focus
on the impact to the employee, the agency, and the
community).
Metrics to identify successful candidates
• Conduct longitudinal research to identify challenges
and successes from the perspective of the candi-
dates who went through the process.
• Conduct research to identify common and preferred
characteristics and traits in policing and in other
domains (include the community in this research).
Methods of assessment
• Conduct a systematic review to identify evidence-
based best practices for selecting, training, and
overseeing evaluators or raters.
• Update the research on the effectiveness of assess-
ment methods in a police promotion context.
Training and career progression
• Conduct quantitative and qualitative research to
identify the reasons behind the disincentives and
potential solutions.
Transparency and organizational justice
• Develop training experiments that evaluate different
feedback models.
SELECTED PRIORITY NEEDS
Midlevel police leaders (MLPLs), such as sergeants and lieuten-
ants, have a great influence on officers, including their percep-
tions, behaviors, and well-being. MLPLs have also been identi-
fied as crucial for effectuating organizational culture, goals, and
objectives, making them lynchpins for organizational innovation
and change. Given the substantial impact that MLPLs have on
their organizations, staff, and the communities they serve, agen-
cies must have mechanisms in place to cultivate, identify, and
select the best individuals for these positions. is is achieved
through the promotion process—the advancement of organiza-
tional members to higher ranks and increased levels of respon-
sibility. In general, the promotion process in police agencies
involves some combination of written testing, oral interviews,
and assessment center analyses. However, this process lacks uni-
formity across agencies, and there is a dearth of research on the
most-effective ways to conduct police promotions.
To inform the development and implementation of valid, reliable,
and fair promotion processes in police agencies, we convened
subject-matter experts, including police practitioners, researchers,
and other stakeholders, to discuss how police agencies currently
promote MLPLs. rough a series of virtual interviews and a
group workshop event held on February 29 and March 1, 2024,
we sought to learn about knowledge gaps or challenges with
the police promotion process. ese discussions generated a list
of prioritized needs that could be addressed to inform research
and policy on police promotions. A need is the combination of a
salient problem or opportunity and a specific solution to address
this problem or opportunity. is report describes these needs
and provides additional context based on subject-matter expert
interviews and the larger group discussion.
WHAT WE FOUND
e workshop produced 47 needs that were considered high
priority. High-priority needs were conceptualized across five
main themes. e themes and general takeaways from the
workshop are described below.
