- Community Policing Dispatch Photo Contest Winner: Jefferson County (Colorado) Sheriff's Office
        - COPS Office Director's Letter on SROs
        - Improving Officer Resiliency to Stress and Associated Health Outcomes
        -  Perception is Reality
        -  Some Solutions to the Reputation Crisis Impacting Policing

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### Some Solutions to the Reputation Crisis Impacting Policing

Police violence against civilians has  become breaking news nationwide resulting in a major image and reputation  crisis for urban and suburban law enforcement agencies. Police departments across  the United States have been faced with extensive media attention over high  profile incidents of use of excessive force that has caused death and serious  injury to civilians of all ages and races. All the good news about the work and  accomplishments of police officers, their bravery, and the dangers they face on  a daily basis is being aggressively overshadowed by a growing amount of  frequent and negative news coverage, social media reports, and viral videos of  serious police misconduct, which is negatively impacting the image of police  officers.

     As part of my crisis communications  course at Middlesex Community College in Bedford, Massachusetts, I charged my  students to develop a crisis communications strategy that begins to turn around  the negative image of law enforcement and rebuild community trust and  appreciation for the role of police officers in the community. The 25 students  who assisted in the preparation of this strategy, which has been shared with  local police chiefs, are not professionally employed in law enforcement. Some  students are married with young children; several are decorated military combat  veterans while others are traditional college students, the majority of whom  are taking classes while working. Their majors range from nursing and business  to communications, liberal arts, and criminal justice. Through their research  and more important from their personal observations and experiences with police  officers, the students created dozens of recommendations that police  departments should consider for improving their image in the community.

     Highlights of the students’  recommendations include the following:
        - Departments should work with local colleges to design and distribute an annual public       opinion survey to local residents to gauge their rate of satisfaction with       local policing and solicit suggestions on how the local department can       communicate a higher level of service and a more positive perception and       connection to the community. 
        - Police       chiefs must have high visibility in the community by attending civic and       community events in full uniform. Coffee with the Chief is an excellent       way of connecting police leadership with community residents. These       events, which could be held at a local supermarket, library, or coffee shop, would provide the chief and his command team with an informal way of       meeting and listening to local residents.
        - Patrol       officers need to humanize themselves. They should be required to interact       with their community through park-and-talk opportunities. When not       responding to a call, officers should engage local residents in casual,       informal conversation by getting out of their patrol cars to talk to       residents who are walking, mowing lawns, raking leaves, or sitting in       their front yards. This personal connection is essential in building       community trust, good will, and a more positive interaction with local       patrol officers. If they encounter kids playing basketball, for example,       they should talk to them; even ask if they can shoot a few baskets as a       way of relationship building. They need to project an Officer Friendly       image to local residents rather than a stern and unfriendly       command-and-control perception.
        - In       communities that have growing ethnic populations, police commanders should       invite leaders to meet with officers and educate them on their culture,       religious customs, lifestyles, and dress so officers better understand the       different cultures they are now patrolling.
        - Departments       should create a citizen or police advisory committee that would brainstorm       with police leadership on ways to increase the positive visibility and       appreciation of police officers in the community.
        - Promote       newly hired police officers in local media so readers know who they are,       their level of education and academy training, and what personal qualities       the new officers bring to the job and the community.
        - Departments       should host a series of community outreach programs on issues that range       from how to burglar-proof your home, safe bike riding for kids, what       parents should know about the downside of social media, and self-defense       classes for women—especially female high school and college students.       Invite the media to publicize and report on these community events.
        - Departments       must reinforce academy training with regular in-house refresher courses in       verbal and nonverbal communications taught by college speech professors.       Seminars must be offered in crisis intervention, de-escalation training       and stress reduction, and how to effectively deal with people with       emotionally disturbances; these must be taught by licensed mental health       professionals.

Professor Rick PozniakMiddlesex Community College Bedford, Massachusetts

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Community Policing Dispatch Photo Contest Winner: Jefferson County (Colorado) Sheriff's Office | COPS Office Director's Letter on SROs | Improving Officer Resiliency to Stress and Associated Health Outcomes | Perception is Reality | Some Solutions to the Reputation Crisis Impacting Policing

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