Working with the media in times of crisis: key principles for law enforcement.

The sight has become all too familiar in today's media: a crisis occurs in a law enforcement agency. Perhaps, a child is missing and presumed kidnapped. While the investigation goes through its normal progression, the department falls under scrutiny for the strengths--or weaknesses--of its efforts to recover the child and solve the case. Or, an officer uses a Taser on a citizen who dies during the process of an arrest, and the community erupts in protest. Maybe a natural disaster occurs, and both the government and its law enforcement agencies are under fire for their lack of preparedness, promptness, and sufficiency while responding.

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Regardless of the precipitating event, the result remains the same. The law enforcement organization becomes the focus of media attention, often drawing reporters from beyond its normal media market. The chief executive and spokespersons are placed in the spotlight, and each word they utter reflects their level of professionalism and the character of their agency. What can law enforcement professionals learn from the experiences of administrators and public information officers (PIOs) of other departments who have endured the media aftermath of crises? How can they learn to better weather a media invasion? What principles can reduce the negative impact of such events and allow the agency and its personnel to come through this time most successfully?

KEY PRINCIPLES

Take Control of the Issue

The approach a department takes when working with the media is the key to success during agency crises. Commanders always should have a proactive communication strategy and consider the time spent with the media before a critical event as an investment in the future. Part of this plan will center on the media's ready access to information concerning the department. Electronic versions of departmental policies, such as those relating to deadly force, ethics, and media relations, and current and past media releases available through the agency's Web site can foster the atmosphere of openness even before critical incidents occur.

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During crises, the law enforcement agency must have a consistent voice and message. In most cases, departments should have only one voice, either the chief executive or a designated spokesperson, speaking on the issue. This helps maximize damage control and minimize mixed messages. Further, agencies should deliver such information in a timely fashion. In addition to the distribution of news releases electronically and by fax, departments can use the Internet to post messages, announce press briefings, and distribute photographs and other relevant material instantly and simultaneously to all of its media outlets. Effective use of the agency's Web site also can reduce the burden of continually answering the seemingly nonstop telephone calls that occur during times of crisis.

The agency's chief executive and spokesperson must recognize that if they cannot promptly provide information, the media will look elsewhere. For media representatives, especially during a major crisis, deadlines and competition are constant parts of their professional life, and the urgency associated with filling the public's need for 24-hour news drives their coverage and interaction with the agency. An experienced PIO has emphasized:

When events break and a crisis looms, there's no time to stop and retreat, pause and prepare. If you don't feed the media beast, it will feed on you. Time is a media commodity that must be filled; if a public relations specialist doesn't supply pertinent, accurate, topical facts in a timely fashion, then the media will find someone, somewhere, to fill the time with speculation, opinion, and innuendo. That's when reputations are ruined, careers are lost, and situations spiral out of control. Once that control is lost, it's rarely recovered. (1)

Finally, the media spokesperson must fully understand the problem before trying to explain it to someone else, especially the media. Times of crisis cause enough confusion for an agency without the person responsible for press statements adding to that disorder, obfuscating the issues, and not always clearly stating facts.

Accept Responsibility

Organizational leaders must take the "high road," or ethical course, in accepting responsibility for actions that occur under their supervision. The focus of their actions and public comments should deal with correcting improper behavior and ensuring that agency personnel also accept their own responsibility at an appropriate time and in a proper venue. The midst of a crisis is not the time to assign blame or deflect responsibility. "The educated call the rest of the world moron ... while the workers claim the work is too hard and the idle say it's not enough ... let's beat the blame game by thinking deeply, talking sensibly, and blaming sparsely." (2)

For many in times of an agency crisis, it often seems best to fall back on childhood ways of dealing with a problem: deny its existence and hope it will go away without anyone knowing. Yet, bad news does not get better with age. When the media microscopically focuses on government, particularly law enforcement agencies, the department's problems rarely remain unnoticed or unpublicized. As part of the effort to control the issue, the agency leadership must proactively deal with the issue publicly, openly, honestly, and completely. It is in the agency's interest to provide as much information as possible at the beginning of an issue, rather than see a 1-day story spread over a week as the press gathers more information on its own. Departments must realize that it often is best--and important in the eyes of the public--to publicly confess and repent sins in a timely fashion.

Tell the Truth

During a crisis, the media will try to quickly discover information, and the department will feel pressure to respond to their inquiries. In such a tension-filled atmosphere, agency executives must deal with only the facts and what they know. Equally important, they should not speculate or create information just to appear responsive.

At the same time, the chief executive or agency spokespersons never can simply say, "No comment." If they cannot discuss an issue (and valid reasons not to do so will occur), they should advise the media that the organization cannot release the information and then give an explanation (e.g., it is an active investigation). One reporter explained that if an agency does not respond to a critical question, the public will develop its own answers, not necessarily based on the facts nor the message the department wants to send.

Know Key Players

Successful law enforcement executives recognize the critical importance of personal relationships in their professional lives and, consequently, adeptly cultivate contacts and network among their peers and within the criminal justice community. Such relationships with the "movers and shakers," or influential people, in the media community prove just as essential for their success during times of agency crisis. While the PIO within the agency plays a significant role in ensuring day-to-day relationships with the media, chief executives should not rely only on their PIO to fulfill this key role. Instead, they must make certain that the local media market knows them as experienced professionals and respects them for their reputation as open, honest, credible, and accessible in good times, as well as bad. Media ride alongs and proffered participation to members of the press as attendees at citizen police academies (CPAs) add to the preparation for the day when a crisis breaks. (3)

The St. Petersburg, Florida, Police Department uses another way to ensure ongoing communication with the media. "Once a year, in early December, we host a 'media round table' luncheon and invite the chief, top staff, and operational folks who have contact with the media (CID sergeants, communications center supervisors, and traffic folks) to meet and mingle with reporters and producers from all of the Tampa Bay area media (which is the 12th largest media market in the nation). They all come and we talk about any issues, particularly any issues that hinder a good working relationship." (4)

Additionally, many agencies use reverse ride-along programs as an effective tool. In these instances, chief executives or public information officers spend time within the media outlets, learning the roles of the news director, assignment desk editor, anchor, and reporter.

The media appearance of an agency's chief executive adds a significant degree of gravitas to any law enforcement situation. For that reason, most agencies use a designated spokesperson to handle the day-to-day media relations and public comments. During major events and essential pronouncements, however, citizens, elected officials, and media personnel want to hear from the "boss," not the agency's media flack. In times of crisis and concern, the public--the real focus of an executive's media remarks, rather than the media itself--wants the highest ranking official to reassure them that the authorities have everything under control and the agency is under a steady hand.

Be Prepared

The press conference is not the place to determine if the executive and staff are prepared for media examination. In anticipation of media questions, administrators should ensure that the agency's staff has done their homework even before the spokesperson approaches the microphones and cameras. Any necessary notes, written statements, support visuals, and press packages should be in order, complete, accurate, and readable to prevent complications. During one news conference, for instance, a chief executive discovered too late that he had difficulty reading from a prepared statement because his staff had failed to use an enlarged font. If possible, and when time permits, agencies should conduct a mock press session before the chief executive or spokesperson appears in front of the media, ensuring that everyone involved has considered the challenging questions before the media asks them.

Law enforcement prides itself on the education and training available to executives and "up and comers" on administrative, management, and operational issues. Equally important, chief executives particularly should take advantage of training opportunities in media relations and public presentations to learn how to effectively interact with the press before an event occurs. On-the-job training, while beneficial in other areas of law enforcement administration, is not the best approach during the emotionally charged atmosphere of a major crisis. Just as important, executives should learn from the success--and failure--of other agencies and their leaders during times of crisis. Finally, law enforcement executives must be sure to "practice, practice, practice" to prevent them from suffering from stage fright when the time comes to appear before the cameras.

Involve a Legal Advisor

When, as young officers, executives initiated a criminal case, they never would have taken action without ensuring that it was legal or could withstand judicial scrutiny. Especially when the stakes are high, the chief executive must involve the agency's legal advisor in the media process. After the fact, it is too late to retrieve a statement that violates law, jeopardizes a suspect's fair trial, or opens up the department--and its executive personally--for criticism and liability.

Address the Media

While preparation and planning are crucial to the success of agency executives or spokespersons during a crisis, their actual delivery becomes the most effective gauge. The manner in which executives deal with the media and, more important, how the public perceives them, will most likely be the determinant of the agency's ability to professionally present its case and survive a crisis.

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CONCLUSION

Over the last decade, as the media has increased its focus on government institutions and their performance and technology has allowed the media to expand the breadth and timeliness of its coverage, executives have regularly found themselves in the spotlight. Especially in highly visible organizations, such as law enforcement agencies, those in charge have been forced to expand their knowledge and enhance their skills in media relations. By following several key principles, departments can ensure that they are ready to handle the extensive media attention they will undoubtedly receive during times of crisis and, further, decrease the negative effect of such events. Critical incidents offer well-prepared law enforcement executives the ability to effectively communicate with their citizens and the opportunity to display their agency in the most favorable light.

Endnotes

(1) Wayne Shelor, "Memo from the Field," in Public Relations: A Values-Driven Approach, David W. Guth and Charles Marsh (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Allyn and Bacon), 418.

(2) William Safire, "The Ick Factor," New York Times Magazine, September 25, 2005, 21, reflecting a 1937 letter to a newspaper editor.

(3) For more information on CPAs, as well as their implementation, see Ronald E. Ferguson, "The Citizen Police Academy," FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, September 1985, 5-7; Martin Alan Greenburg, "Citizen Police Academies," FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, August 1991, 10-13; Giant Abutalebi Aryani, Terry D. Garrett, and Carl L. Alsabrook, "The Citizen Police Academy: Success Through Community Partnerships," FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, May 2000, 16-21; and Elizabeth M. Bonello and Joseph A. Schafer, "Citizen Police Academies: Do They Do More Than Entertain?" FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, November 2002, 19-23.

(4) William Proffitt, Division Manager, St. Petersburg, Florida, Police Department's Community Awareness Division, personal correspondence with author, November 8, 2005.

By JAMES D. SEWELL, PH.D.

RELATED ARTICLE: Tips for Success with the Media

* Project sincerity and credibility.

* Be nice, responsive, and careful. Remember that you always are on the record--all of the time.

* Keep it simple and stay on point.

* Look at the reporters, not the cameras.

* Remember that appearance and body language are important--maintain good posture and never let them see you sweat.

* Understand the reporter's question before you answer.

* Avoid "cop talk" and speak clearly.

* Refrain from using the word "I," if possible, when referring to acts performed by your personnel.

* Leave the media with an effective quote that will sum up your position and serve as a usable sound bite.

* Be ready to think on the spur of the moment.