• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Events
  • Partners
  • Products
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Jobs and Careers
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Subscribe to the Magazine
American Police Beat

American Police Beat Magazine

Law Enforcement Publication

  • Home
  • Editor’s Picks
    • The power of teamwork
      Stay awake and alert on the job
      The worst rank in law enforcement
      Firearms maintenance
      Why fries need salt
  • Topics
    • On the Job
      • Michigan police officer and bystanders hailed as heroes after...
        Florida police officers recount heroic rescue of 3-year-old boy...
        Semi-truck collides with South Dakota police cruiser during winter...
        Florida 9-1-1 dispatcher guides family member through CPR after...
        NYPD officer rappels down skyscraper to save man from jumping to his...
    • Labor
      • LAPD “accidentally” leaks personal information of undercover...
        LAPD union proposes police stop responding to non-emergency calls
        Florida’s recruitment program lures Chicago police officers to the...
        Staffing shortages plague Cleveland police as record number leave the...
        New Orleans interim police chief aims to hire civilians in time for...
    • Tech
      • New Jersey turns to license plate reader technology to address rise...
        One of country’s oldest cold cases solved with DNA from untested...
        Crypto crime investigations
        Austin Police Department launches non-emergency artificial...
        iPhone crash detection feature helps deputies rescue driver from canal
    • Training
      • New N.J. emergency service officers ready to respond in times of...
        Working effectively in low light
        Realism and stress inoculation in training
        Avoiding conflict and escalation
        U.S. trails in police training
    • Policy
      • Oregon law enforcement and retailers seek to combat organized...
        Utah bill aims to regulate how law enforcement uses genetic genealogy...
        Opposing POVs on permit-less carry
        Ohio bill would lower minimum age to become a police officer to 18 to...
        Utah bill would allow people with “invisible conditions” to alert...
    • Health/Wellness
      • Thinking of pulling the pin on retirement?
        Expanding your identity
        Nonprofit offers telehealth therapy to upstate New York first...
        A California police department’s new wellness unit aims to improve...
        Massachusetts police department prioritizes officers’ mental health...
    • Community
      • “Tennis brings us all together”: NYPD officers bond with youth...
        First responders share love of reading with children for Read Across...
        Colorado Springs police kick off annual soccer ball giveaway to bond...
        “These are beautiful animals”: Community members gift horses to...
        Central Texas nonprofit to open law enforcement museum in honor of...
    • Offbeat
      • Ohio police rescue man from brutal zebra attack
        Motorist stranded in Oregon wilderness without cell phone reception...
        Cincinnati police work with animal rescuers to capture exotic cat...
        Not UFOs: Police departments across the country receive 9-1-1 calls...
        Texas deputy detains runaway tortoise after “slowest foot...
    • We Remember
      • New Jersey girl supports first responders through Running 4 Heroes...
        Law enforcement from across the country join seventh annual Fallen...
        Boone County holds fifth annual Jacob Pickett Remembrance Day to...
        Farewell to a “living legend”: Oldest law enforcement officer in...
        “Officer Becerra will never be forgotten”: Colorado police...
  • On the Job
    • Michigan police officer and bystanders hailed as heroes after...
      Florida police officers recount heroic rescue of 3-year-old boy...
      Semi-truck collides with South Dakota police cruiser during winter...
      Florida 9-1-1 dispatcher guides family member through CPR after...
      NYPD officer rappels down skyscraper to save man from jumping to his...
  • Labor
    • LAPD “accidentally” leaks personal information of undercover...
      LAPD union proposes police stop responding to non-emergency calls
      Florida’s recruitment program lures Chicago police officers to the...
      Staffing shortages plague Cleveland police as record number leave the...
      New Orleans interim police chief aims to hire civilians in time for...
  • Tech
    • New Jersey turns to license plate reader technology to address rise...
      One of country’s oldest cold cases solved with DNA from untested...
      Crypto crime investigations
      Austin Police Department launches non-emergency artificial...
      iPhone crash detection feature helps deputies rescue driver from canal
  • Training
    • New N.J. emergency service officers ready to respond in times of...
      Working effectively in low light
      Realism and stress inoculation in training
      Avoiding conflict and escalation
      U.S. trails in police training
  • Policy
    • Oregon law enforcement and retailers seek to combat organized...
      Utah bill aims to regulate how law enforcement uses genetic genealogy...
      Opposing POVs on permit-less carry
      Ohio bill would lower minimum age to become a police officer to 18 to...
      Utah bill would allow people with “invisible conditions” to alert...
  • Health/Wellness
    • Thinking of pulling the pin on retirement?
      Expanding your identity
      Nonprofit offers telehealth therapy to upstate New York first...
      A California police department’s new wellness unit aims to improve...
      Massachusetts police department prioritizes officers’ mental health...
  • Community
    • “Tennis brings us all together”: NYPD officers bond with youth...
      First responders share love of reading with children for Read Across...
      Colorado Springs police kick off annual soccer ball giveaway to bond...
      “These are beautiful animals”: Community members gift horses to...
      Central Texas nonprofit to open law enforcement museum in honor of...
  • Offbeat
    • Ohio police rescue man from brutal zebra attack
      Motorist stranded in Oregon wilderness without cell phone reception...
      Cincinnati police work with animal rescuers to capture exotic cat...
      Not UFOs: Police departments across the country receive 9-1-1 calls...
      Texas deputy detains runaway tortoise after “slowest foot...
  • We Remember
    • New Jersey girl supports first responders through Running 4 Heroes...
      Law enforcement from across the country join seventh annual Fallen...
      Boone County holds fifth annual Jacob Pickett Remembrance Day to...
      Farewell to a “living legend”: Oldest law enforcement officer in...
      “Officer Becerra will never be forgotten”: Colorado police...
  • Between the Lines
    • The imprisonment of law enforcement technology
      Persecution of the LEO is classic schadenfreude
      The rule of law is worthless without order
      School policing: a paradox of the defund movement
      Defending the honor of the LE profession – finally!
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Events
  • Partners
  • Products
  • Advertise
  • Contact
Search

Labor

Executive leadership in social media and press relations

Robert Spinks Published October 30, 2021 @ 7:00 am PDT

iStock.com/oatawa
Law enforcement agencies across the nation face increased media scrutiny, community turmoil, reduced funding and many demands during this new era of policing. It’s no surprise that many government organizations report that their employees are less engaged than ever and that leaders feel helpless to change the situation.

The days of “no comment,” weak media outreach or failing to package and publish “news and information” are relics of the past. Agencies today, regardless of size, must have a media plan that targets their constituents. Executives must set the tone in agency messaging. Public information officers (PIO) must engage in the art of messaging to the media and public using multiple mediums and platforms. 

The National Information Officers Association (NIOA) is a resource for law enforcement agencies to tap into. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) offers an online Public Information Officer Awareness course (IS-0029) with a series of ground classes leading to an advanced PIO course.

You may be in a community where there is mutual respect and conversations between a chief or sheriff and a newspaper editor or radio or TV interviewers exist. In other venues, the relationship with traditional media outlets may be strained. Nevertheless, the focus must be directed at reaching your jurisdiction’s constituents and stakeholders.

According to Rick Rosenthal, nationally renowned media trainer, the traditional media wants three things: information, sound bites and pictures. Information is the who, what, when, where, why and how; sound bites are 27/3/1 — messages that are 27 words long and consist of three sentences with one thought per sentence; and pictures are self-evident in the digital media world of today.

Today we are marketing directly to citizens more than ever before. Just as important is for executives to lean forward in messaging with their community.

Impact of social media

A Pew Research Center study reports that 55% of U.S. adults now get their news from social media either “often” or “sometimes.”

The news media have traditionally been the primary method police have used to communicate important messages to the public. The idea that a simple press release will be effective as it was a decade ago is wrong.

Law enforcement agencies today must adapt to a 24-hour news cycle and social media. According to the Urban Institute’s “Social Media Guidebook for Law Enforcement Agencies,” 94% of responding police agencies use Facebook, 71% use Twitter and 40% use YouTube. Less commonly used platforms are LinkedIn (27%), Nixle (24%), Instagram (21%), Nextdoor (20%) and Google+ (19%). The general population in the U.S. also uses social media platforms at different rates: 73% of all Americans use YouTube and 68% use Facebook, while 35% use Instagram and 24% use Twitter. These rates vary by age group, with 18- to 29-year-olds using these platforms at higher rates.

According to the Pew Research Center, 98% of text messages are read within two minutes — an important reason to invest in a police website that allows for community members to receive text and other alerts.

Marketing your message

This is an era that demands both law enforcement executives and line staff to market their agency’s mission. At the agency level, that requires a proactive media program. At the line level, it requires staff to become marketers with their one-on-one citizen contacts. According to Stephen Kent, a criminal justice trainer from the Results Group, “There is no such thing as a non-marketing employee.”

America has nearly 18,000 law enforcement agencies at the city, village, township, borough, county or parish and state level. The average-sized agency in the U.S. averages just 25 officers or fewer. Community outreach, press and social media operations and connecting with citizens is a responsibility that is the same whether an agency is in a metropolitan, suburban or rural location.

Officers have thousands of interactions with residents each year — responding to calls, conducting investigations, attending community meetings and making traffic stops. Those experiences create a lasting impression of
police performance that is shared with family and friends.

Educating and investing in line staff to market their agency is also invaluable. The number of face-to-face contacts made by agency staff can be a huge messaging multiplier. Opportunities to share agency successes, prevention information and education face to face is often as valuable as any media campaign. But if staff don’t have facts, haven’t been briefed on services and programming along with how to refer citizens to additional sources via an informative police website, we are losing critical community market share.

What is your agency’s marketing plan?

Peter Drucker famously said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” In doing so, he identified a phenomenon that leaders have struggled with throughout history: It is one thing to have a great strategy, but it’s quite another to accomplish it. Never has this statement been truer, or more challenging, than for today’s law enforcement organizations.

Community engagement is the name of the game today. Failure to embrace a forward-leaning outreach program by all sizes of law enforcement agencies will ensure they will fall prey to a growing number of internal (political) and external threats (community based).

Determining the appropriate timing and most effective communication vehicles for the right messages is not easy, nor will the right messages necessarily satisfy those whose financial stake in the decisions are threatened. Yet, who frames the issues first and offers the most compelling scenario may have some advantage.

In today’s high-tech world, establishing and maintaining a transparent police organization is easier said than done. The department’s website can provide access to reports, statistics, call records, crime mapping, connections to officials, breaking news, written policy and all sorts of other
information. Deciding what information should be provided, how much, when and to whom, in addition to maintaining a respect for the privacy and legal positions of named individuals, are factors that must be weighed against the goal of transparency.

Do we want to sink? Community leadership and police morale

The police, especially in communities experiencing the greatest degree of crime and disorder, feel under attack. Meanwhile, law enforcement executives have found themselves under increasing pressure and scrutiny not only to address crime and disorder within their respective jurisdictions, but also to intervene and resolve social and quality-of-life issues that extend beyond the realm of policing. Keeping a low profile is a weak position in this environment.

An effective and proactive media engagement program is also valuable for police morale. Building bridges and partnerships with our community has value in helping line officers in their community interactions. It also provides support to replace community fiction with fact, in bolstering the often unseen successes that occur daily at the shift, division and agency level. Sharing success with the community is critical for agency morale just as it is in educating citizens.

Social media can be a helpful tool for law enforcement agencies to improve transparency and build relationships within their communities. Doing so is critical in enhancing community partnerships in crime control and prevention. The excuse that police agencies of any size can’t afford marketing and community outreach is no longer a viable excuse.

Robert Spinks

Robert Spinks

Robert Spinks started his career in 1981 with the Eugene Police Department in Oregon and later served at the Port of Seattle Police Department in Washington. He has been the chief of police in Sedro-Woolley, Washington; Milton-Freewater, Oregon; Sequim, Washington; McNeese State University; and is currently the chief in Parsons, Kansas. He is an instructor and adjunct faculty at the University of Arizona Global Campus and Labette Community College. Community policing information can be downloaded at parsonspd.com.

View articles by Robert Spinks

As seen in the October 2021 issue of American Police Beat magazine.
Don’t miss out on another issue today! Click below:

SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

Categories: Labor

Primary Sidebar

Recent Articles

  • Michigan police officer and bystanders hailed as heroes after rescuing victims in fiery car crash
  • LAPD “accidentally” leaks personal information of undercover officers to watch-dog group
  • Florida police officers recount heroic rescue of 3-year-old boy trapped in sinking car
  • Semi-truck collides with South Dakota police cruiser during winter storm
  • Florida 9-1-1 dispatcher guides family member through CPR after toddler almost drowns
  • NYPD officer rappels down skyscraper to save man from jumping to his death
  • New Jersey girl supports first responders through Running 4 Heroes program
  • Indiana K-9 unit recognized with national Medal of Valor
  • “I thank God for putting us at the right place at the right time”: Wisconsin police officers save choking child
  • National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund Announces February 2023 Officer of the Month

Footer

Our Mission
To serve as a trusted voice of the nation’s law enforcement community, providing informative, entertaining and inspiring content on interesting and engaging topics affecting peace officers today.

Contact us: info@apbweb.com | (800) 234-0056.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

Categories

  • Editor’s Picks
  • On the Job
  • Labor
  • Tech
  • Training
  • Policy
  • Health/Wellness
  • Community
  • Offbeat
  • We Remember
  • Jobs and Careers
  • Events

Editor’s Picks

The power of teamwork

The power of teamwork

July 23, 2021

Stay awake and alert on the job

Stay awake and alert on the job

July 20, 2021

The worst rank in law enforcement

The worst rank in law enforcement

July 19, 2021

Firearms maintenance

Firearms maintenance

July 04, 2021

Privacy Policy | Your Privacy Options | Notice at Collection | Copyright © 2023 APB Media, LLC | Website design, development and maintenance by 911MEDIA

Open

Subscribe

Close

Receive the latest news and updates from American Police Beat directly to your inbox!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.