In response to rapidly changing societal conditions and increasingly complex public safety challenges, police organizations require a high level of leadership competency. Consequently, systematic leadership education at the early stage of a police officer’s career has emerged as a critical task for ensuring organizational sustainability and public trust. This study aims to identify training priorities for leadership competencies among new police officers using a position-based approach, which addresses the limitations of traditional rank- or duty-based models by consistently defining roles and required competencies according to position. A survey was conducted with newly appointed inspector cadets at the Korean National Police University. The Borich Needs Assessment Model and the Locus for Focus Model were employed to analyze the data. In particular, partial correlation coefficients between overall leadership level and individual behavioral indicators were calculated and standardized using Z-scores to enhance statistical validity and reliability. As a result, six behavioral indicators from the problem-solving competency cluster and two from the communication competency cluster were identified as priority areas for leadership training. Specifically, legal application and integrative thinking competencies emerged as critical for accurate judgment and effective law enforcement in complex situations, while expressive communication and empathy were confirmed as essential for fostering trust and collaboration within the organization. By applying a position-centered leadership competency model in an empirical context, this study presents a practical direction for improving the effectiveness of leadership training for new police officers and contributes to enhancing the overall quality of competency-based training systems in police organizations.
Kim et al. (Fri,) studied this question.
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