Keith Bushey

Keith Bushey retired from the Los Angeles Police Department as a commander, from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department as a deputy chief and from the United States Marine Corps Reserve as a colonel. Other law enforcement experience includes having served as a Los Angeles County deputy sheriff, a state of California deputy game warden and the marshal of San Bernardino County. He is an instructor emeritus for the FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development Association and has lectured and written extensively in the areas of leadership, management and ethics. His entire eight-booklet Leadership Series is in the public domain and may be downloaded without cost from KeithBushey.com. He may be contacted at kdbs255@aol.com.

Supervisory actions: Deliberate style or weak skills?

August 3, 2025

I recently overheard an interesting conversation where a group of law enforcement officers were expressing their concerns about the actions of a new lieutenant. Their anxiety about the new manager […] Read More

How not to fail as an outside chief

In 15 easy steps

June 27, 2025

It is easy to say and do the wrong things as a leader, and as a new chief “coming in from the outside,” it is particularly easy to make mistakes […] Read More

Setting ethical expectations early in an officer’s career

May 19, 2025

The issues of ethical expectations and behaviors form the foundation of law enforcement professionalism and deserve strong, visible emphasis throughout every phase of a policing career. The following letter is […] Read More

Go that extra mile with a smile

Focus on background investigations

May 1, 2025

Throughout our wonderful law enforcement profession, recruiting has become increasingly challenging, but it is important to emphasize that this article is not written based on that present reality. More importantly, […] Read More

Leadership without the family factor is not leadership

March 10, 2025

Editor’s note: This article, reprinted with permission, originally appeared in the winter 2003 edition of the FBI-LEEDA INSIGHTER magazine. Whether the head of the organization or the newest hire, those […] Read More

Prozac saved my career, and possibly my life

January 23, 2025

This article is not something that I enjoyed writing, and it’s something that I certainly would not have even considered when I was still in the professional arena, as it […] Read More