The Ultimate Guide to Excellent Public Service Leadership and Management

About the Book

This book is for anyone who is interested in becoming a leader/manager or who already is in such position. For those seeking such responsibilities or promotion, those just starting out in a leadership position, or those who want to learn new tips and to brush up, my hope is that you will find value in this book. Public service includes—but is not limited to—emergency management, emergency medical services, military personnel, fire, first responders, corrections officers, law enforcement, dispatchers / 911 operators, probation and parole officers, transportation, social services, and the list goes on. These servants can be found at the local, state, and federal levels. The principles and concepts in this book are just as useful to those in the private sector who have similar duties as well as volunteer groups. We will go into detail about how to be the best leader you can be. As a caveat, the term leader will mainly be used throughout the book. As you will see, there are differences between leaders and managers, but one key point of this book is that one must strive to be both a leader and a manager.

About the Author

Dr. Jeff Fox served for twenty-seven years in the field of criminal justice, twenty-one of which were with the VA State Police (VSP). He began his law enforcement career as a military policeman in the US Army and served as a town police officer, trooper, sergeant, first sergeant, and lieutenant. He served as a field lieutenant with the state police and served as the assistant training officer, where he managed the daily operations of the training academy. He also served as the statewide incident management program manager for the VA Department of Transportation in the operations and security division. He has been involved in public service for four decades and has served in leadership roles for almost four decades. Jeff earned an AAS degree in police science from Germanna Community College, a BLS degree in criminal psychology and sociology from Mary Washington College, and an MS degree in criminal justice administration from VA Commonwealth University. He earned an MBA degree with a specialization in criminal justice, and he earned a PhD in business administration with a specialization in homeland security from Northcentral University. He is a graduate of the Southern Police Institute Administrative Employees Course and the VA Commonwealth Management Institute. Jeff completed the VA State Police Basic Academy, Rappahannock Regional Criminal Justice Academy, and Military Police School. Jeff has been teaching at various colleges and universities since 2001. He retired from state service as the program coordinator and assistant professor for the Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness and Criminal Justice Cohort Programs for VA Commonwealth University in Martinsville, Virginia. Jeff served as an assistant professor and chair of the Public Safety Adult Degree Completion Programs (bachelor’s) (Criminal Justice and Homeland Security and Emergency Management) for a private college in Virginia. While the assistant training officer for the VSP, he collaborated with the University of Virginia, and together they created the National Criminal Justice Command College. Jeff’s full-time job now is as public safety trainer/educator/consultant for his company called Fox—Public Safety Training, Educating, and Consulting LLC. He has been an associate dean, program chair, program coordinator, associate and assistant professor, lecturer, and adjunct.