Police are charged with planning for major events and ensuring they’re carried out safely, from small community festivals to events with hundreds of thousands in attendance. The Kansas City Missouri Police Department (KCPD) assisted the city in hosting the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory parade on February 5, 2020. This required extensive communication with the public before the event. Then, with hundreds of thousands of people gathered at the parade, a crisis broke out, endangering everyone in attendance.

Members of the KCPD Media Unit had worked hard to prepare the city for the parade. Although things didn’t go according to plan, those preparations helped the media team assure the public of their safety during the critical incident. Additionally, the follow-up communications celebrated the actions of heroic officers and reaffirmed law enforcement’s commitment to public safety, no matter the risk.