In today’s complex law enforcement environment, performance excellence is more than a goal — it’s essential. The recent Lexipol webinar, “Performance Excellence in Law Enforcement: Why It Matters and How Your Agency Can Achieve It,” covers how performance excellence can help foster trust, accountability and operational success in your department. Presented by Lexipol co-founder Gordon Graham and Bryan Selzer, Lexipol’s president of performance excellence, the discussion offered insights into creating high-functioning departments and how data, training and leadership serve as the bedrock of performance excellence.
The vision of performance excellence: Why it matters
With over 40 years of experience in law enforcement, Gordon Graham is a nationally recognized expert in the policing industry. He says performance excellence is vital because it directly influences public trust, agency effectiveness and safety. “The goal is making excellence the norm,” Graham says, “not the deviation.” While law enforcement often gets things right, he adds, departments can achieve even higher standards by focusing on key areas of improvement.
Performance excellence, as Selzer notes, is not just about avoiding mistakes. On top of that, it’s about creating a culture in which every level of an organization strives for outstanding outcomes. “It has to become a part of an agency’s culture,” he adds. Excellence, Selzer says, requires the right tools, continuous training and a data-driven approach to performance evaluation.
Following are three key takeaways from this insightful webinar.
1. Data’s role in building accountability and transparency: In this era of heightened accountability for police, having concrete data is crucial for stewardship of any law enforcement agency. Graham highlights how — all too often — departments are challenged to “prove” that they follow their own policies and procedures. The solution? Comprehensive data collection and transparent sharing. “Stop telling me stories — give me some data,” he advises. Graham underscores the important role data serves in validating the positive actions officers take daily.
Selzer suggests dashboards that allow agencies to share specific performance metrics, such as use of force incidents or response times, to promote community trust. For example, he recommends reporting on high-liability areas like vehicle pursuits, de-escalation methods and community complaints. Doing this helps agencies demonstrate accountability and public engagement.
By implementing an effective data system (including both a data back-end and useful visualizations), agencies can track patterns, identify potential issues early and show their adherence to policy. As Selzer says, “Data is often on paper or in different systems that don’t communicate with each other. Ideally, you want to have a ‘one-stop-shop’ where you can collect data and then share that data internally and with the community.”
2. Preventing “failure to train” liability: Training is fundamental to performance excellence, as it gives officers the knowledge and skills they need to handle complex and high-stakes situations. Yet, training isn’t a “one and done” proposition; it requires continuous reinforcement. Both Selzer and Graham express concerns over departments in which training basically ends after the academy. “The primary mission of a training officer was making sure people signed in,” Graham jokes (though he’s not really joking). This approach creates huge risks for departments and officers alike.
Ongoing, targeted training is essential to prevent issues that arise from skill decay, Graham says. “Thirty days after you take a class, if nothing is done to reinforce what was taught … you’re not going to remember much.” He notes the importance of focusing on “core critical tasks” — those high-risk, low-frequency actions such as vehicle pursuits and de-escalation efforts that require quick decision-making. This approach reduces the risk of tragic outcomes and protects agencies from costly legal issues.
Training records are equally important, Graham stresses, as they offer a way to prove officers are continuously educated. This record-keeping becomes even more important when the department is faced with a lawsuit, as it allows law enforcement leaders to demonstrate that the agency prioritized training to prevent failures in judgment and action.
3. Positive reinforcement and objective performance evaluation: A third key point from the webinar is the importance of recognizing and reinforcing positive behavior. Graham points out how supervisors may only connect with officers when something goes wrong, which tends to foster a negative atmosphere. “Any idiot can catch people doing things wrong,” he says. “Catch your people doing something right!” By focusing on positive reinforcement, departments can create an environment that values excellence over punitive actions.
Another critical component of performance evaluation is objectivity. Graham argues for moving away from traditional, subjective performance evaluations and toward assessments rooted in explicit measurable outcomes. “I want specific, articulable facts on key performance indicators,” he explains. This approach ensures evaluations accurately reflect an officer’s performance, reducing the risk of favoritism or bias.
An important goal of objective performance evaluation, according to Selzer, is not only to hold officers accountable but also to support their growth by identifying areas for improvement. With tools like Lexipol’s performance reporting system, supervisors can track measurable data and provide officers with actionable feedback.
Moving forward: Making excellence the norm
Graham and Selzer urgently recommend law enforcement leaders embed these principles into their agency’s culture. Performance excellence requires a combination of robust policies, they say, not to mention continuous training and reliable data. It also requires a commitment to transparency and positive reinforcement.
“Our public deserves better than minimum standards,” Graham says. “Our personnel deserve better than minimum standards.” With the right tools and insights, law enforcement agencies can build on these strategies to not just meet but exceed community expectations, creating safer communities and more effective, resilient teams.