Setting aside the profoundly poor timing of penning an op-ed for Fathers day publication, which contains predictions he will soon be arresting more cops who are also likely fathers, husbands, dads and brothers, Police Chief Batts breaks the absolute cardinal rule of principle-centered leadership:

♦  When you are a leader of significant influence – never, ever, never, punch down with your admonishments.  Fight those above you, on behalf of those behind you; never vice-versa.

All failed leaders of large complex organizations generally collapse because when the pressure gets too extreme they violate basic tenets of principle-centered leadership.  Loyalty is lost, and you weaken your own ability to influence positive outcomes.  Pointing to the past, or the boss, might garner you sympathy – but it will never generate respect. 

(Baltimore Sun) More Baltimore police officers likely face arrest as the result of reforms in a scandal-ridden department that requires “wholesale change,” Commissioner Anthony W. Batts wrote in a wide-ranging opinion piece published in The Baltimore Sun..

“Our reform efforts will very likely see more police officers arrested,” Batts wrote. “We will have more officers who are forced out because their outdated, outmoded views of policing do not match the standards the community expects and demands.”

The piece was published Friday on The Sun’s website and appears in Sunday’s print editions.

Batts, appointed commissioner nearly three years ago, said he inherited a department stuck in a “cycle of scandal, corruption and malfeasance” and that Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake hired him to reform the agency and rebuild community relationships. (read more)