Adaptive Change in Law Enforcement Supervision Essay

Adaptive Change in Law Enforcement Supervision - Essay Example Adaptive change involves altering attitudes, behaviors, or long-standing values in order to be responsive to changing conditions within the organization. This theory runs under the assumption that there will be resistance to change, and this makes adaptive responses more challenging, since adapting will require changing mindsets and sometimes even principles to ensure an effective change plan and implementation. Heifetz’ principles of adaptive change are highly relevant in the contemporary police organization, requiring multiple competencies of supervision in order to create a cohesive and flexible policing organization. The supervisor, according to Heifetz, must be able to recognize when individual or organizational values will be a risk to a change and determine when the specific challenge will require adaption to determine a problem resolution. According to Stephens (2005, p.53), policing has historically maintained a system of values and attitudes that represent a â€Å"s low-to-change subculture†. In the modern police organization, it is becoming a common practice to be more interactive with local citizens and local government as part of cooperative, community-minded policing activities.