Cook Art Of Strategic Communication

A Police Chief''s Guide To Mastering Soundbites, Storytelling, And Community
1. Auflage 2024
ISBN: 978-1-957651-71-2
Verlag: Indie Books International
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 300 Seiten

Reihe: The Art Of Strategic Communication

In today's fast-paced environment, the speed at which communication travels and the resounding calls for police accountability demonstrate a need for purposeful communications embedded in a strategic mindset. When done right, strategic communication can increase transparency, build trust, and encourage active community participation. Chief Cook has distilled over thirty years of experience into timely lessons filled with practical solutions you can begin implementing right away.

CHRISTOPHER COOK, Chief of Police in a suburb of Fort Worth Texas, draws from real-world experience over the past three decades to serve as an expert instructor, executive coach, and mentor. He is best known for his contributions to the field of public safety communications and police-media relations while serving as a Deputy Police Chief in Arlington, Texas. Chief Cook serves on the Caruth Police Institute Executive Advisory Board, the Institute for Law Enforcement Administration Advisory Board, and the Executive Board of the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Command Course Association. He is the past president of the National Information Officers Association.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Cook, Christopher

Leseproben

CHAPTER 2 DON’T BURY THE LEDE In 2012, training was held in Vancouver, Canada. The theme centered on sharpening your message through a new communication tool slowly being adopted in police agencies—social media. Yes, I know the origins of social media for the rest of humanity started much earlier, but remember, government changes at a snail’s pace. In addition, there were a lot of unknowns and potential risks with this new communication network. Many executives were uninterested in trying something new or didn’t want to rock the boat. A trailblazer, Lauri Stevens, well-known internationally as a social media strategist, was spreading the word about how social media would improve law enforcement, crime prevention, and officer safety. She founded the “Social Media the Internet and Law Enforcement” (SMILE) Conference to do just that. In addition to her own proficiency, Lauri always had a knack for booking influential speakers who were experts in their field. During the sessions, I met Anne E. Schwartz, best-selling author and law enforcement consultant, along with Sean Whitcomb, a sergeant with the Seattle Police Department at the time. These chance encounters led to innovative thought surrounding strategic communication. Presenters from across the US and Canada talked about how law enforcement was on the cusp of something great with this new tool. Social media will forever change communication. Agencies could be proactive. Departments could zero in on their sound bites and message directly to communities, bypassing traditional methods. As Anne and Sean agreed, not only did we need to put the important information at the front of our messaging, but agencies needed to convey a call to action to increase public safety through citizen engagement. Communication advisors demanded a seat at the executive table, with less chain of command to get in the way of developing and posting content. Many modern-day practices started with emphasizing critical information at the front—news releases, social media, and storytelling. DON’T BURY THE LEDE “Burying the lede,” a journalism term that originated in the 1970s, means placing the most essential information in the middle of a story—not the beginning. This can lead to confusion and the failure of community members to take some requested action, prevent people from even reading your story, and may eventually lead to mistrust. This is the second part of the why related to thinking and communicating strategically. If you are dealing with a train derailment that could release hazardous gases, here is an example of where the lede is buried: communication that provides the news of a train derailment, stating there are some road closures in the area. On the other hand, with the lede up front, strategic communication would place a call to action at the beginning of the messaging: “Citizens around Main Street and Center Street need to evacuate immediately due to a train derailment. Out of an abundance of caution, traffic in the area has been diverted to Second Street as first responders evaluate the contents of the train cars involved. For safety reasons, immediately evacuate these areas and follow all instructions from first responders. An update will be provided once more information is known and can be shared.” Do you see the difference? As executives and communicators, we must determine the most important information that must be readily available and shared with community members and employees. By placing this information at the beginning of a news briefing, at the top of a news release, and in a social media post, we put the lede front and center to quickly convey the most important aspects of strategic communication. Agencies should include a call to action in the messaging. What do you want the public to do? Shelter in place? Just be aware of the incident? Evacuate? Provide tips? The call to action is important because it empowers your community to participate. This reinforces your messaging because the recipient will better understand what to do. Some departments may want to consider using a hook. This refers to posting an attention-grabbing headline encouraging people to click on a message. From a public safety perspective, hooks are not always needed, as followers are generally interested in what a law enforcement agency has to say. But a hook may serve its intended purpose. Don’t create a hook, however, that exaggerates the importance of the topic at hand. It is important who you choose to manage communications. Even in midsize to large agencies that have a dedicated spokesperson, there will be times when it is appropriate for the chief executive to handle communications. An example would be a situation where an officer has been seriously injured or killed. The public and employees want to hear from the boss—not the spokesperson, assistant chief, or captain—they want the boss. HOW I ENDED UP AS A CHIEF SPOKESPERSON I graduated from the police academy almost thirty years ago, so some may refer to me as an “old head.” Like most young officers, I made my rounds in various positions, including patrol, traffic enforcement, and drug interdiction, before being promoted through the ranks. The furthest thing from my mind was that somehow, I would end up the chief spokesperson for a major metropolitan police department or, eventually, a police chief. I received a phone call in 2011 with the voice on the other end directing me to report to the media office upon my return from vacation. Initially, I was not excited about leaving a highway drug interdiction units a sergeant. At the time, the militarization of policing conversation had come full circle, and domestic highway enforcement units were under the microscope. As any agile career-minded individual would do, I reported as instructed. This journey started my career path in police-media-community relations. Furthermore, my path would intersect with three of the largest law enforcement-communication groups in the world: the International Association of Chiefs of Police Public Information Officers Section, the Major Cities Chiefs Association Public Information Officers Committee, and the National Information Officers Association. As a chair and president, I had the great opportunity to lead all three of these storied organizations. This culminated in lifelong friendships, but more importantly, it built a solid core of trusted advisors where ideas could be bounced around, and help could be solicited when times were tough. This is the real value of joining organizations: to expand your network and learn best practices. Networking with peers and communication professionals is a core competency for any good leader and spokesperson. We all have our stories of how we arrived at our positions. Some of you may be in a small agency where there is no need for a dedicated spokesperson. That duty likely will fall to you as a leader, chief executive, or sheriff. Others may work in a medium-sized agency where the recruiter doubles as a public information officer when needed. Those who work in even larger agencies may have a dedicated person responsible for dealing with the media and carrying the organization’s message. In the largest agencies, you may even be a part of a team of professionals tasked with all aspects of communications. Regardless of your agency’s size, you will need to speak to the media and public at some point when the news is not always flattering. Also, a commitment to communicating strategically is paramount. This requires you, a person, or a team of individuals to perform those duties. Imagine this for a moment. Your department may be the very best in the world. It may have the best people doing a great job. But if someone is not telling or sharing their story, it does not matter how good the people are or how well the agency is performing because no one has awareness. When I received my first appointment as police chief, I inherited a good agency. There were no outwardly facing major problems. However, inside, there was a lot of friction, resulting in a lack of communication. There was a lack of trust between the rank and file and the upper echelon. Sound familiar? This is a common problem, as recent studies show that communication is one of the biggest obstacles between executives and line personnel.9 As I eased into the agency, I made it a priority to fix the internal communications. Once we made progress on that endeavor, I started showcasing the excellent police work being done. We utilized videos, podcasts, news releases, press conferences, and a whole range of social media photos and stories to demonstrate the immense value of the team to the community. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive—the perceptions were that the agency, under new leadership, was now working harder than ever. This is what’s interesting about this story. The team was doing what they always did, with one major difference. Now, they had a leader who knew how to profile their work. The story was getting out. Public trust was increasing. Employees were vying to be the next officer to make the big crime bust or receive the community accolades that could be shared on social media. It was an amazing time to see the smiles on officers who had never been publicly thanked before. That’s why strategic thinking and communication is extremely important. WHAT IS A STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION ADVISOR/PIO? A PIO may be called by several different titles and wear many...