Copyright © 2021 Daniel Eugene Reinhardt All rights reserved. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has permission to reproduce and disseminate this document in any form by any means for purposes chosen by the Seminary, including, without limitation, preservation or instruction. THE IMPACT OF SERVANT LEADERSHIP AND CHRIST-CENTERED FOLLOWERSHIP ON THE PROBLEM OF POLICE BRUTALITY AGAINST MINORITIES __________________ A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary __________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy __________________ by Daniel Eugene Reinhardt May 2021 APPROVAL SHEET THE IMPACT OF SERVANT LEADERSHIP AND CHRIST-CENTERED FOLLOWERSHIP ON THE PROBLEM OF POLICE BRUTALITY AGAINST MINORITIES Daniel Eugene Reinhardt Read and Approved by: __________________________________________ Timothy Paul Jones (Chair) __________________________________________ John David Trentham Date ______________________________ To my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who changed my mind, my heart, and gives me purpose. To my wife, Yvette, who has stood by me with unwavering faith and endurance. May we never forget what God has delivered us from nor our hope in Him for the future. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES . vi PREFACE . vii Chapter 1. RESEARCH CONCERN . 1 Increased Tension and a Needed Response . 4 Thesis. 9 Three Gaps in Existing Leadership Literature . 14 Research Methodology . 20 Delimitations . 21 Research Assumptions . 23 Definitions . 24 2. THE POLICE HISTORY AND CULTURE . 26 The Complexity of the Police Context . 28 The History of the American Police, Police Power, and Abuse . 31 Police Brutality and Police Departments as Social Structures .. 48 Summary . 62 3. LEADERSHIP IN LAW ENFORCEMENT . 64 The Traditional Police Structure . 67 Contemporary Leadership . 69 Organizational Structure and Leadership in Law Enforcement . 77 Servant Leadership . 89 Summary . 98 iv Chapter Page 4. LEADERSHIP MODEL SYNTHESIS: CHRIST-CENTERED FOLLOWERSHIP AND SERVANT LEADERSHIP . 100 Christ-Centered Followership in Law Enforcement . 103 Leadership Model Synthesis . 113 Summary . 133 5. SERVANT AND SHEPHERD MODEL APPLICATION . 135 Targeting the Internal Problem . 139 Leadership and Organizational Change . 141 Leadership Application . 148 Leading Change as an Ethical Example . 157 Law Enforcement Mission . 173 Changed Philosophies and Methodologies . 180 The Empowered Servant and Shepherd Officer . 185 Conclusion . 191 6. THE SERVANT AND SHEPHERD OFFICER IMPACTING IDENTITY FORMATION . 192 Relationship and Identity Formation . 195 The Framework . 198 Law Enforcement and African Americans . 208 Summary and Conclusion . 215 Future Research . 218 Closing Reflections . 219 BIBLIOGRAPHY . 223 v LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table Page 1. Inverse consistency protocol . 112 2. Modified protocol . 113 3. Leadership model synthesis . 131 4. Servant and shepherd model with application . 156 5. Modified protocol . 168 Figure 1. Servant and shepherd leadership model progressive impact . 190 2. Current Police Context Versus Reformed Police Context . 216 vi PREFACE I am thankful and indebted to the people who have supported and helped me complete this dissertation. From the initial research to the final product, my doctoral supervisor, Dr. Timothy Jones, provided guidance and instruction, and his feedback has been invaluable. My cohort has also been a source of encouragement and strength. My mother, Jeannie, read and edited every chapter. I cannot thank her enough for all her time and efforts. To my wife, Yvette, who has supported me, prayed for me, and sacrificed. Lastly, I am thankful that God has not only provided the means and opportunity but also given me a desire to keep pressing forward. Daniel Reinhardt Lorain, Ohio May 2021 vii CHAPTER 1 RESEARCH CONCERN Policing is a unique occupation and perhaps cannot be fully understood unless experienced. Without stepping into that existence, one may never truly grasp the world and culture of law enforcement. I began my law enforcement career at twenty-two years of age and soon after attended the police academy. I spent four months learning laws and standards of conduct, as well as hands on training in defensive tactics, driving, and firearms. Certainly, these practices all take place in police academies; however, in hindsight—after twenty-three years of experience and reflection—more than just training and preparation occurred. The police academy was an indoctrination into a unique culture. For the most part, police academies are managed and supported by police officers, and the stories and experiences of the academy instructors accompany the training. Looking back, I can see how that experience began to shape my thinking, speech, and even who I was as an officer. Nonetheless, in the academy this identity and occupation is abstract. The new recruit still has not walked in his or her new identity. After the academy, I spent four months with training officers. The indoctrination continued as I learned how policing was really done at the street level. I can now see— although perhaps implicitly at times—I was clearly being taught that the police culture was the dominant shaping force of how we operated. The process happens so quickly I am not sure I understood the impact of these experiences. Approximately eight months after I walked in the door of the police department, I was on my own in a police cruiser. I remember thinking, “I cannot believe they are letting me do this.” This thought was likely an expression of my superficial grasp of the immense power I possessed as a police officer; however, at that point, my thoughts on the matter never 1 progressed past a superficial understanding. The power I possessed as an officer quickly became my new normal. As I walked in my new identity within my new culture, we all possessed that power; and no one seemed to be concerned with the implications of that power or the unusual, intense, and frequent experiences that were common for all of us. With just a little over a year of experience, I had been in foot chases, car chases, fought with resisting suspects, and had been assaulted. I was on the scene at large bar brawls, belated rapes and murders. I witnessed an officer shot and stood less than fifty feet away as two officers later shot and killed the suspect. This was my new normal, yet I still had not deeply reflected on my new identity and power. However, one incident woke me from my slumber. I was working night shift and was sent to a domestic violence call. Domestics are a common call for service, but this incident would turn out to be unique and transforming. The neighbors across the street from the residence of the domestic incident had called the police. The female victim was screaming so loudly the dispatchers could hear the screaming coming through the neighbor’s cordless telephone as she reported the incident from the tree lawn. When I received the call, I was only one street block away from the residence; however, my back-up officer was cut off by a train, and he had to take a much longer route to get to the residence. As I pulled up to the residence, I could immediately hear the screaming. I approached knowing I was alone. I walked up the broken steps of the porch that led to the front door. The door was open but the screen door was closed, so I opened the door and stepped into the residence. Approximately ten feet away was a couch facing the door. A younger African-American male in his twenties had his back to the door and was standing over a female who was crouching on the couch. He was striking her repeatedly. The screaming was so intense that the best description would be to say that she was screaming bloody murder. It was dark and because of her visceral screaming and the motion of his arms, I thoroughly believed that he was stabbing her. So, I unholstered my gun pointing it at him and began to yell for him 2 to stop and get on the ground. He immediately turned, looked at me, and walked towards me in a manner that appeared aggressive. I continued yelling for him to get on the ground as I tried to see if the knife was in his hand. It was too dark to see, and I did not have enough time to pull out my flashlight. In literally one second, he had closed the distance between us. I took the slack out of the trigger of my gun preparing to shoot him. In the academy, I was taught the danger of knife attacks to my life, and that the reaction to a knife wielding suspect is to use deadly force. I realized that if I tried to grab hold of his right hand—where I believed the knife to be—with my left hand, I would not be able to stop a knife attack. I could not turn and run nor did I have the time to holster my gun and try to grab his right hand with both my hands. Keep in mind, I had to process this information under stress in just seconds while fully convinced my life was in danger. For reasons that I would not understand until many years later, I chose to try and grab his right hand with my left hand instead of pulling the trigger. As I did, he offered no resistance. I turned him toward the wall, and once again, he offered no resistance. I then placed him in handcuffs as he complied with my directions. I turned him towards me and looked for the knife. There was no knife. He still had an angry look on his face, and I asked him, “Why didn’t you listen to me? Why didn’t you get on the ground?” With an angry tone yet with complete sincerity he yelled, “I’m tired of her, and I came out so you could take me to jail!” I placed him in the rear of my police cruiser.