Crisis to Culture
Law Enforcement Incident Command:
A Critical Need for Advancement
When a crisis unfolds, every decision matters—and so does the system behind it.
Crisis to Culture examines a question every law enforcement agency should ask: Are our people prepared to execute effective incident command when events move faster than plans, information is incomplete, and chaos reigns?
Drawing on more than twenty years of publicly available after-action reports, this book explores recurring challenges in law enforcement incident command. It looks beyond individual decisions to examine the practices, expectations, and customs that can shape how an agency responds under pressure—and how a “Crisis of Command” can take hold.
This free book is about more than what happens during a crisis. It is about the culture that exists before one begins: how people are trained or not, how the application of command is misunderstood, how decision-making processes are slowed, and how an agency fails to learn after the event is over.
Readers will find a practical path from assessment to action, including:
- A self-assessment to help agencies examine their commitment to preparing personnel for effective incident command.
- Lessons drawn from historical incidents and after-action reports.
- An examination of the Eight Causation Factors associated with command breakdowns.
- An explanation of the Six Phases of the Crisis Cycle, with examples of how a crisis can develop and repeat.
- A clear distinction between law enforcement tactics and incident command—and why both matter.
- A review of systems and equipment that can support effective command.
- A comprehensive training philosophy and process designed to help agencies strengthen their incident command performance.