ABSTRACT
The great Athenian philosopher, Socrates, proposed a guardian class of warriors, custodes, that would protect the citizens and intelligentsia who would govern their Greek society. Contemporary debates concerning the increase in violent crime and the need for fundamental changes to American policing reached a new level of intensity with the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020. However, the executives acknowledged that some law enforcement leaders could be described as “bureaucratic entrepreneurs” because they mainly engage in accreditation to raise their professional status and improve their job mobility. Consequently, the early reform proponents promoted a centralized and relatively autonomous bureaucratic agency structure free from direct political control. The chapter also presents an overview on the key concepts discussed in this book. The manuscript discusses labor unions and courts’ obstacles to meaningful police reform. All the police executives interviewed shared their concerns about these social disparities and highly publicized harmful and criminal behavior by many officers in law enforcement.
