Creation and Implementation of a Strategic Communication Plan to Respond to the Community
You have been assigned by the chief of police to create and implement a strategic communication plan to respond to the community following a high-profile use of force event by an officer with your department. While the use of force appears to have been legally justified and within department policy, there is still a great deal of negative reaction from the public.
Instructions
Using the specific steps outlined, write a 2-3 page communication plan in which you:
- Outline the approach that you would use to research and interpret the situational analysis for your hometown.
- Determine the main goals and objectives of your proposed communication plan.
- Predict the target group of your communication plan.
- Propose the general communication strategies of your proposed plan.
- Provide a rationale for your response.
- Develop the first four main steps of your local police department's strategic communication plan.
- Provide a rationale for your response.
- Make sure to use the four specific steps found in Strategic Communication Practices: A Toolkit for Police Executives. (Link uploaded)
Creation and Implementation of a Strategic Communication Plan to Respond to The Community
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A strategic approach is required to respond to a high-profile use of force event, crucial to achieving the community's trust, transparency of the processes, and positive community relations (Stephens et al., 2011). A strategic communication plan is created and implemented to conduct a situational analysis of the hometown.
Approach for Situational Analysis
1 Data is collected to gather information regarding the event, including the incident report, witness testimonials, audio/video recording, or other internal verdicts.
2 Conduct a comprehensive review of the legal and policy aspects to administer the use of force in the respective jurisdiction.
3 For a broader perspective, Active interaction with community members, local authorities, and organizations by conducting surveys, networking with focus groups, community meetings, or other virtual forums.
4 Observe local, national, and social media coverage to get better insights into the public sentiments and portrayal of the incident.
5 Evaluation of the departmental procedures concerning the use of force by the police department to identify the opportunity for upgrading.
Goals and Objectives of the Communication Plan
The goals and objectives of the communication plan, as highlighted by Brown et al. (2021), are listed below.
1 Development and restoration of trust between the police department and the public by offering transparency, accountability, and commitment.
2 Another primary objective is to guarantee authentic information in time as the response of the police department to show their competence.
3 It also addresses the community's concerns while stimulating them to contribute through participation, followed by feedback.
4 The communication plan helps identify the processes that need further improvement, procedure changes, or training requirements relevant to using force.
Target Groups
It is essential to address the concerns of all the target groups by keeping them informed, offering information, and developing their trust in the police department (Brown et al., 2021). Their support is critical to the police department's performance and achievement of goals. The predicted target groups for the communication plan comprise the following;
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