Group alleges LMPD racially profiled teens, calls for more oversight

Lack of Leadership is the underlying problem with a lot of our organizations problems. You are spot on.

LMPD, and to some extent LPD and JCPD before it, has preached that leaders are who they say they are when it comes to promotions and in their management 'classes'. They then turn around and preach in general training that leadership is borne of actual personality traits- much of which cannot be acquired just by placing someone in any particular rank.

Charisma, intelligence, values, and ability to make sound decisions quickly are ignored in favor of friendships, or more frequently, relationships.

The result is that some leaders slip through, but most retire. I think Chief White was inadvertently honest when he told a group of sergeants and lieutenants that he expected his people to adopt his vision as their own, implying pretty strongly that an independent thinker- a strong trait of a leader, and necessary for providing checks and balances- had no place in his chain of command.

That leadership style appeals to only a few, which is why he is seen as a failure as far as leaders go, by the vast majority of officers, and still praised to the end by the very few who found that his leadership style suits them.

So now you have Conrad - a nice guy but not exactly a strong leader of the masses - saddled with friends of Bob. And this is after a good many of the potential *real* leaders have retired right at 20 years or just a little beyond. So, the pickings are a bit slim for any backfilling when guys like Buck finally clear out, and opportunities for something good to happen become much harder to come by.