In July 2022, the IACP announced the launch of the Trust Building Campaign, an initiative that aims to enhance trust between police agencies and the communities they serve by ensuring positive community-police partnerships to promote safe and effective interactions, create strategies to prevent and reduce crime, and improve the well-being and quality of life for all.1
One of the six focus areas highlighted in the campaign is leadership and culture within police organizations. The campaign encourages police leaders to conduct a cultural assessment of their organizations and identify what steps need to be taken to address areas of concern. The IACP identified the need to better support police leaders in this endeavor and has recently organized events and resources dedicated to leading cultural change in policing.
Cultural transformation is necessary to build trust between police agencies and the communities they serve. As the trust-building process can be challenging for many police leaders to implement themselves, IACP held two three-day roundtable sessions to provide police leaders with a safe space to share promising practices and roadblocks regarding cultural change efforts in their agencies. The two sessions brought together sworn and civilian police leaders from law enforcement agencies recognized for their progressive approach to transforming police culture and leading local and regional change efforts.
The first roundtable was conducted on August 23–25, 2022, in Dublin, Ireland. The IACP-sponsored event was hosted by An Garda Síochána, the national police agency of the Republic of Ireland. The cultural transformation roundtable in Dublin convened police leaders from nine police agencies representing seven countries. Police agencies represented at the event included An Garda Síochána; the Metropolitan Police Service of London, United Kingdom; the Royal Canadian Mounted Police; the Seattle Police Department, Washington, United States; the Grand Junction Police Department of Grand Junction, Colorado, United States; the Malta Police Force; the New Zealand Police; and the Netherlands National Police. The event coincided with the centenary of the founding of An Garda Síochána and highlighted their efforts to adapt and transform over the next 100 years while acknowledging their history.
Over the course of three days, attendees shared cultural change strategies and promising practices that police leaders could use to promote organizational change within their agencies. Attendees presented on a variety of organizational change topics, including recruitment and retention, evidence-based approaches to community engagement, communication strategies, strengthening trust, minimizing bias, gender equity through gender-based analysis, and change management frameworks, among other issues. Following each presentation, time was allocated for questions and open discussion. Each day culminated with a facilitated discussion in which attendees shared their insight and challenges in implementing culture change as well as their vision for what policing should be in the future. The event also featured guest speakers who presented on academic and private industry practices and areas of collaboration to enhance transformational change efforts. Guest speakers included Les Graham, professor with the Department of Management & Marketing at Durham University, and Andy Rhodes, chief constable (ret.) of Lancashire Constabulary and service director of Oscar Kilo: The National Police Wellbeing Service.
Following the success of the first roundtable, a second roundtable was convened on June 20–22, 2023, in Valletta, Malta, hosted by the Malta Police Force. In order to highlight additional perspectives on cultural transformation, a new group of police leaders was invited to attend the event. The roundtable was attended by 13 police leaders representing 10 police agencies. Participants included police representatives from the Malta Police Force; the Toronto Police Service, Canada; the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Interior; An Garda Síochána; the New York City Police Department, New York, United States; the Netherlands Police – Hague Regional Unit; the Brazilian Federal Police; the Police Service of Northern Ireland; the York Regional Police, Canada; the Denton Police Department, Texas, United States; and the Australian Institute of Police Management.
Participants presented an array of topics under the umbrella of culture change. Topics included enhancing legitimacy, cultural specificity, cultural assessments, the implementation of new technology, religious inclusivity, addressing community mental health, culture change frameworks, fostering public trust, and enhancing culture through police exchange. Similar to the first roundtable in Dublin, the event included facilitated discussions around common themes and elements that arose each day. The roundtable also included a presentation from Saviour Formosa, a professor with the University of Malta. As a key contributor to the cultural transformation strategy and framework of the Malta Police Force, Professor Formosa presented on the strategy through an academic lens.
In order to continue the great work shared in Dublin and Valletta, IACP will release a report focused on the key themes of each roundtable. The report will feature case studies, academic theories, and promising practices to provide police leaders with a framework to develop their own agendas for cultural change within their respective agencies. The report will be released to IACP members and the field in 2024.
In addition to the report, the IACP has also developed the Cultural Transformation in Policing – Community of Practice to foster information sharing among police leaders, a virtual community hosted on the IACPengage platform. The community of practice includes two key components: a discussion board and a resource library. The discussion board provides a forum for police leaders in the virtual community to share challenges and experiences on culture change and trust-building topics, and the resource library allows police leaders to post resources and publications that may be beneficial to others in the field. The resource library includes the presentations shared at the two roundtables as well as handouts, resources, and publications on cultural transformation. The community of practice is available to IACP members working as police practitioners. To join the virtual community, visit www.theIACP.org/projects/cultural-transformation-in-policing.
Through the community of practice, updates regarding the report and future events focused on cultural transformation will be released. Join the community of practice today to learn more and share insight with fellow change leaders.d
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1For more information on IACP’s Trust Building Campaign, visit www.theIACP.org/IACP-trust-building-campaign.
