"Since
law enforcement agencies began partnering with citizens through community
policing, we've seen significant drops in crime rates."
-
John Ashcroft
Effective
Media Skills for Law Enforcement
This course is designed for police officers, detectives, community police officers, communications supervisors, public information officers and other law enforcement personnel with none or even limited experience in media relations, who seek additional skills which will allow them to communicate more effectively with members of the media under a multitude of circumstances. Course topics cover an array of media issues that commonly cause law enforcement to not seek media assistance in their problem solving efforts.
The one-day course is designed for law enforcement and taught by a law enforcement media professional. It focuses on development of communication skills and techniques, avoiding pitfalls, and better understanding of media procedures, as they apply to law enforcement.
Participants will understand the media can be an invaluable tool in which to provide information to the community, as well as a source of gathering information for on-going investigations. Participants will learn how to be pro-active in describing their problem solving efforts to the media, allowing for a greater chance of positive coverage and eventually case closure.
Effective Media Skills training will use real-life media conflicts and crime scene procedures as they apply to releasing information and dealing with crisis situations. Students will then apply learned skills in classroom discussion. Participants will also interact with members of the media in a free flowing discussion on how they can gain maximum positive coverage of a negative incident occurring in the officers patrol zone, community policing area or at the crime scene.
Course Goals:
- Participants will become more aware of how the media can be a powerful ally in providing information to the community or helping to persuade witnesses to come forward during an investigation.
- Participants will become more sensitive to the benefits gained from establishing positive working relationships with the media.
- Participants will understand the importance of working with the media to assist in their community problem solving efforts.
- Participants will gather an insight into the workings of the media and learn how to avoid certain pitfalls during an interview.
- Participants will have discussions with members of the media to learn first hand their philosophy and procedures when covering negative or “breaking news” within a patrol zone, community policing area or crime scene.
- Participants will be given the opportunity to present real-life problem
solving cases and discuss ways to work with the media in times of crisis.
Manuals and Presentation for Download:
*You will need Adobe Acrobat to download manuals.