Policing philosophy has changed from encumbrance to empowerment; police culture has changed from a closed, top- down organization steeped in bureaucracy to one open to the community and to the employees who do the job. Traditional autocratic leadership is at odds with empowerment. The needed changes in organizational culture must go beyond policy statements and involve changes throughout the organization. Specific changes should include abandoning military ranks, insignias, and other trappings of office that serve as internal and external barriers and eliminating manuals that focus on micromanagement. Additional changes should include replacing the typical end-of-the-year evaluation system with community surveys or action groups and ongoing interactions with employees to maintain quality performance, reevaluating the system of controls in the control of the organization, and rewarding mistakes of good intent. Finally, police agencies should actively recruit for, encourage, and support higher levels of education, as well as technical and professional training. Footnotes