Pandemic, Protest, and Unrest: Lessons Learned from a New Chief's First 100 Days

• Published date: 01 March 2022
• Author: Galia Cohen,Brad G. Fortune
• Date: 01 March 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13421

Pandemic, Protest, and Unrest: Lessons Learned from aNewChief’s First 100 Days 359

Public Administration Review,

Vol. 82, Iss. 2, pp. 359–361. © 2021 by

The American Society for Public Administration.

DOI:10.1111/puar.13421.

Pandemic, Protest, and Unrest: Lessons Learned from

aNewChief’s First 100 Days

Abstract: The police leader’s first 100 days present a mix of unique challenges even at the best of times. What kind of

challenges do new chiefs face when, during their first 100 days, a global pandemic is declared and nationwide protests

and riots against police are sparked in a country under social distancing restrictions? This article discusses the first

100 days’ experience of a newly appointed police chief attempting to navigate through this, already overwhelming,

transition into his new role. The article identifies five “first 100-day” domains that confronted police leaders with

unprecedented challenges and required unprecedented actions. A re-evaluation of these five key areas would help police

chiefs improve their capabilities and ability to effectively respond to current challenges as well as to unforeseen future

events.

Evidence for Practice

• Newly appointed police chiefs should evaluate five key areas during their first 100 days: leadership, communication,

collaboration, training, and technology.

• Informal collaborative networks are essential for chiefs’ ability to achieve effective work outcomes, and effort should

be invested in establishing them during the first 100 days.

• Evaluating the agency’s technological capacity should be a priority during chiefs’ first 100 days so that, in the future,

a smoother transition to a virtual work environment can take place.

• Personal and timely written responses to citizens create a sense of transparency and good faith, which are very

effective in building trust with the public.

The first 100-day benchmark for evaluating

presidential success is more of an arbitrary

standard than a scientific measure, but it has

a historical appeal and is effective. The first “famous”

100 days in American history began on March 4, 1933,

with President Franklin D. Roosevelt (Dominguez2005).

It was during a radio interview that President Roosevelt

used the term to describe his sweeping success in

establishing dozens of federal programs within the first

100 days of his presidency (Alter2006).

The first 100 days of a presidency are also considered

a “honeymoon” period because presidents are usually

granted more leniency and unusual amounts of

cooperation from their constituencies (Hughes1995).

Since Roosevelt first coined the term in 1933, the

“first hundred days” concept has taken on a symbolic

significance, extending to leaders and executives in

different professional fields across the public sector.

In the law enforcement world, the first 100 days for

police chiefs are very significant. In many cases, new

chiefs are new to not only the agency but also the city

and have no established relationships or partnerships

in the community. Therefore, the 100-day standard

is used not only to evaluate their success internally,

within their agency, but also to gauge the extent

to which they were able to successfully integrate

externally, into the community they serve.

The police leader’s first 100 days present a mix of

unique challenges for newly appointed chiefs even at

the best of times, and especially in today’s policing

environment. The question raised in this article is:

“How does a new chief of police face this, already

overwhelming, transition into the role of police chief

when a global pandemic is declared and nationwide

protests and riots against police are sparked in a

country under social distancing restrictions?”

For the newly appointed Chief of Police of the Keller

Police Department in Texas, what was supposed to

be a “honeymoon period” became, instead, a journey

into uncharted territory not only for new police

executives but for the entire police profession. In

this article, we identify five “first 100-day” domains

that confronted police leaders with unprecedented

challenges, which required unprecedented actions.

Brad G. Fortune is the chief of the Keller

Police Department and a twenty-first

Century Policing Instructor at the Institute

for Law Enforcement Administration (ILEA).

He holds a master’s degree in Public

Administration (MPA) from The University

of Texas at Dallas and is also a graduate of

the FBI National Academy and The Police

Executive Research Forum’s (PERF) Senior

Management Institute for Police. Chief

Fortune is a USMC veteran and has over 25

years of law enforcement experience.

Email: bfortune@cityofkeller.com

Galia Cohen is the department head

and assistant professor in the Department

of Public Administration at Tarleton

State University, Texas. She is also alaw

enforcement instructor conducting

professional development workshops for

law enforcement professionals in police

management schools across the United

States. Her research focuses on public

safety, collaboration, police training, and

police administration.

Email: cohen@tarleton.edu

Viewpoint Article

Galia Cohen Brad G. Fortune

Tarleton State University Keller Police Department