Crisis at the Top: The Need for Authentic Transformational Leadership in Public Safety

Crisis at the Top is a timely and necessary exploration of the ethical leadership challenges facing public safety organizations today. Through his Leadership HAT (Humility, Authenticity, Transparency) Continuum, Dr. Eric Plummer provides a critical framework for understanding how public safety leaders, from new chiefs to seasoned executives, can either build resilient, ethical cultures or fall prey to patterns of insecurity, arrogance, and corruption.

Dr. Plummer draws from his decades of experience and real-world examples, including case studies based on open-source reporting, to illustrate how leadership failure rarely happens overnight. Instead, it follows a predictable path, beginning with ethical compromises and culminating in damaged public trust. He highlights how both new leaders (driven by insecurity) and veteran leaders (driven by overconfidence) can lose their way if they fail to stay grounded in core leadership values.

The book is both a cautionary tale and a blueprint for reform. It outlines:

• The progression of leadership failure and how it can be prevented through intentional leadership development.

• The critical need for public safety leaders to practice humility, maintain authenticity, and operate transparently.

• The profound impact of ethical (or unethical) leadership on organizational culture, public trust, and mission success.

Crisis at the Top also emphasizes that ethical leadership is not easy. It often requires standing alone under political pressure, making unpopular but principled decisions, and enduring personal and professional sacrifices for the sake of the mission and integrity.

The book closes by challenging leaders to reflect on their own leadership legacy: Are they building organizations that will thrive ethically long after they leave? Or are they unknowingly planting the seeds for the next crisis?

Ultimately, Crisis at the Top offers public safety professionals and any leader in a high-trust field a practical, principled guide for leading with resilience, purpose, and unwavering ethical commitment.

Eric S. Plummer, Ph.D., is a nationally recognized professional in public safety leadership, crisis response, and emergency management. He currently serves as a senior administrator for a public university, where he oversees emergency management, police, and emergency medical services. Dr. Plummer also serves as a national instructor in critical incident management and as a senior lecturer in a graduate program in public safety leadership.
 
Throughout his career, Dr. Plummer has held executive-level public safety roles at multiple institutions of higher education and served with a state highway patrol agency in various capacities, including state trooper, homicide detective, internal affairs investigator, and supervisor. He has developed training and curriculum for federal and state agencies, as well as academic institutions, on terrorism prevention, risk management, threat assessment, and coordinated crisis response.
 
He has led large-scale emergency operations during natural disasters, public health crises, and complex threat incidents. In addition to leadership, Dr. Plummer contributes to national and regional task forces, advisory councils, and professional boards focused on law enforcement, emergency management, and homeland security.
 
A veteran, Dr. Plummer holds a Ph.D. in Public Safety with a concentration in Emergency Management, a master's degree in organizational management, and a bachelor's degree in sociology. He is certified in law enforcement leadership across multiple states and is a graduate of Harvard University's Executive Education in Crisis Leadership and the Southern Police Institute's Command Officer Development Course.
 
In Crisis at the Top, Dr. Plummer draws from decades of field experience and academic insight to explore the devastating consequences of leadership failure. His work is guided by a lifelong commitment to ethical leadership, accountability, and mission-driven service, principles that serve as the foundation for Crisis at the Top.