Police departments are not lauded by the public as the most welcoming and enjoyable places to visit. In fact, the most common things people hear are that police departments are unwelcoming, unsympathetic and a place people dread visiting. In many cases, a person needing police assistance will go to their local police department. In my nearly 22-year experience as a police official, I can say most of the people who come to our police department are coming with a problem, need help and are usually not having the best day. The first encounter a person will have is typically not with a police officer. It is usually with a dispatcher or a member of professional staff working at the police department’s front counter.

Reimagining a new approach

The city of Seaside is a small community of about 35,000 people on the central coast of California. The Seaside Police Department has just over 50 employees. In March, the Seaside Police Department connected with Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn after watching the Netflix docuseries, American Nightmare. Huskins and Quinn made national headlines after they were falsely accused of engaging in a hoax for ransom in 2015.

Ultimately, they were exonerated, and everything they originally told police turned out to be true. Huskins and Quinn agreed to speak to a group of about 300 law enforcement officials from all over the state of California. This was their first public speaking engagement with a law enforcement audience. Aside from all the horrific things that Huskins and Quinn went through in 2015, something they talked about would later trigger an idea. Both Huskins and Quinn talked about how cold, unpleasant and negative the police department felt when they were there. 

Keep in mind that even though police incorrectly felt they were untruthful, they were victims. They were victims of a home invasion, kidnapping, ransom, sexual assault and false imprisonment. One would think being at a police station would feel like the safest and most relieving place to be. Like many police departments, the feeling is completely the opposite. Quinn was interrogated for hours upon hours. During their talk in Seaside, Quinn made a brief comment that stuck with me when he said he wished there was a water feature or picture to look at to keep his mind off all he was enduring and feeling.

After their talk, members of the Seaside Police Department started an important conversation that would later turn into an idea and a game-changer for our encounters with our community. The conversations surrounded around how our department looked. Were we a cold, dark and gloomy place? The fact that our small department literally sits in the basement of city hall, we concluded rather quickly, meant that we already faced an uphill battle if we wanted to be more of a pleasant place to visit.  

Around the same week, we had one of “our regulars” who came in as he usually did — irritated, impatient and demanding to speak to an officer. At the time, all of the patrol officers were in the field and tied up. The wait would be a while. 

Our records staff had to continually approach the window, apologize for the delay and assure the man an officer would be with him as soon as possible. The man only became more irritated, and when the officer finally arrived, the first encounter was doomed to be negative. Essentially, the man vented all his frustrations to the officer, refused to sit down to make a report and stormed off. 

In many police departments, we call this a typical Monday. As staff talked about the encounter, it was suggested we have some soft music playing in our lobby to at least try and create a sense of calm as a person waits. Maybe that would help distract and change the mood. The next day, we bought a sound box and began playing very soft, spa-like music in our lobby.

This actually works!

After plugging in our sound box and spa-like music, we immediately noticed a difference that has been maintained since around April. We noticed that people waiting would be calmer and more patient as the music played, and when an officer arrived, the encounters were far less tense. We then thought of Huskins and Quinn. How about a water feature? But not a small one, a large one that captures a person’s attention. That could be a soothing feature to enhance our lobby even further. We made the purchase a few weeks later and had it installed. Instantaneously, it was effective. Not only did it calm the vibe, but we received so many compliments from members of the public. 

Many people had never seen such a water feature in a police department. It was unique and soothing. Not only that, it was contagious. When our lobby is empty, our records staff is still working on the other side of the glass. Now our staff was listening to the soft, spa-like music and enjoying the soothing water feature. We quickly identified this was a win–win for everyone! 

Being a small department, we really are like a family. Our staff was so motivated that we decided to dive into this new discovery by outfitting our lobby into a full-blown Zen-like atmosphere. Our staff took this on as a shift project and installed wood paneling on both sides of the walls, painted the remaining walls with a soft color and added bamboo plants, eucalyptus and lavender oil aroma, a soft area rug and a salt lamp. We had our public work/maintenance staff assist with the work that went beyond decorating.    

We have a few additional touches left, but the final concept is complete, and it works! Just recently, a man came in and was clearly upset by an issue he was having. As he waited for an officer, we noticed he dozed off for several minutes. Multiple people who come in irritated often calm down in a matter of minutes and leave with a far better disposition than we have ever seen. 

Members of our community have even gone to city council meetings to praise the police department for thinking outside of the box and creating an environment that is welcoming, soothing and positive for all.

Showing you care

The real question is, why have we not thought of doing something like this before? We recognize we took our idea to an extreme, but why do police department lobbies not typically focus enough on the place where members of their communities come for help? So many victims of crime come to us, and all we have to offer is a wall of historic badges and a stained chair. 

In my opinion, it really is a cultural thing — “That is what most do, and that is what we have always done, so let’s keep doing it.” We can never change the culture unless we try new things. I would be a liar if I said neighboring police departments are not getting a good laugh at what we are doing. What I can say is I cannot call them and talk about it because there is too much yelling and chaos coming from their lobbies in the background! 

For all the good, fun jokes we hear from other police departments (“Can I schedule a massage?” “Do you give out robes and slippers?”), we now regularly catch local officers stopping by to take a sneak peek. Even better, we have community members from different cities coming in to praise us and see it for themselves! 

This has inspired our staff to be more creative and develop an environment they can benefit from and take pride in, knowing it makes a difference. This has sent a message
to our community that we care about your experience with us, and we want to make whatever the situation you are experiencing a little easier. 

The next step is cucumber water!