July-2023-cover

July 2023: Media Strategies

GUEST EDITORS Katie Nelson and Cristina Fernandez

Building a strong media presence and ensuring that a communications plan is already in place are necessary steps to establish an agency as a reputable source of news during a crisis. When agencies use communication tools ineffectively, the public begin searching for facts elsewhere, contributing to the spread of misinformation, the breakdown of trust, and a decline in agency reputation. Critically analyzing media in which officers are trained could positively affect academy instruction, allowing officers to be more equipped for contemporary policing while footage of their actions is shown to the public via alternative news sources.

Articles

  • Training the Trainers in Media Literacy

    By Renee Hobbs, EdD, Professor, University of Rhode Island, and Anne Kringen, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of New Haven, Connecticut
    Long before individuals decide to apply to the police academy, they have formed opinions about law enforcement from the variety of media sources that now influence the entire landscape of policing, af...

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  • Bringing a Media Perspective to the PIO Role

    As police departments look for the right people to fill the full-time position needed to address both community engagement efforts and to inform the public and the media when public safety incidents a...

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  • Results Through Strategy

    By Christopher Mannino, Chief (Ret.), Park Forest Police Department, Illinois
    What are the police doing on social media? Not personally, for those who are, but as a profession? It is an important question to ask as it is becoming increasingly rare to find a law enforcement age...

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  • Credible, Accurate, Timely

    By Michelle Guido, Director of Strategic Communications, Orange County Sheriff’s Office, Florida
    Some moments remain etched in my memory from the morning of June 12, 2016, when a lone gunman entered the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, just after last call. The 3:15 a.m. phone call from my...

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Columns