How to Transform the Culture of Your Police Department

悉尼R. 罗伯茨

分享皇家88账户注册篇文章

2022年10月27日

全国各地, 皇家88娱乐的18岁开始发生变化,000个地方警察局——有时是悄无声息的, 几乎在幕后, 其他时候是大的, 嘈杂的, 尴尬的震动. I could be talking about effective outreach to communities. Or more extensive officer training in use of force and de-escalation. Or the systematic implementation of procedural justice at every level of operations. 但我不是.

Although good things are happening in each of these areas, I’m talking about the department’s culture and the promising, 如果断断续续和不均匀, progress that some police executives are starting to make in improving and professionalizing the culture of their agencies.

How exactly does a chief go about changing the agency’s culture? 而每个部门都是不同的, there are best practices that can help affect change at the “esoteric” level of attitudes, 行为和心态. It can be powerful for both officers and the public when an entire department collectively reflect these.

  1. 对你的部门进行360度的调查.
    首先,不要假设你知道所有的答案. Ask your constituencies – both inside and outside the department – for their insights and ideas. Develop a survey to elicit perceptions on the department’s culture and its various components. 让它匿名以鼓励真实的分享.
  2. 定期进行调查.
    数据本身没有任何意义. Data tracked over time, however, highlights progress. 你的第一次调查给了你一个基线. Your second and future surveys let you measure whether you’re making progress against your objectives, 落后的:落后或拖延的.
  3. Measure the Perception Gap Between Officers and Your Community. 向两个受众群体问同样的问题. That way you can examine gaps in perceptions and use that data to explore root causes, create potential solutions and precipitate good working discussions with various stakeholder groups.
  4. 保持透明,公开分享调查结果.
    How you elect to handle the survey results is critical. Let’s say your baseline survey returns data that identifies and confirms, 例如, low morale among officers and distrust of the department among the community. Should you be open with the results or hide the data and hope for better numbers on the next survey?

    保持透明并广泛分享. 透明最终会建立信任. If the critics of your department are convinced that you are authentically committed to measuring results and improving over time, 真正的合作机会可能会出现.

    此外, 即使你最初的结果很低, you can start to reinforce a 积极的 narrative by driving hard to make some early changes, and then capture the measure of this progress with a new survey. 皇家88账户注册样想:你的数字越低, the more easily you should be able to show movement in the right direction. That kind of “good news” tends to get many different stakeholder groups excited and invested in the outcomes.
  5. 让你自己和你的警官到社区去.
    文化变革从高层开始. 到街上去. Visit the neighborhoods where the most conflicts occur with police. Doing so ensures that your understanding of matters “on the ground” is direct and not cycled through your command staff.

    Your presence also sends a message to the community and your officer corps. It tells them that having a strong relationship with the community is important to you and that you are personally invested in making the department’s culture more open and collaborative as well as more effective and efficient.

Of course, you could always decide not to conduct a survey. 但皇家88账户注册是最好的主意吗? In the absence of data that accurately measures the perceptions of all your stakeholders, 不仅仅是那些声音最大的, you cede the greatest influence – and maybe even control – to “external” sources.

没有对你的部门有完整的了解, it becomes easy for others to project their perspectives and, 在某些情况下, tarnish your agency and its reputation with inaccurate narratives, 虚假信息, 谣言, 甚至还有阴谋. As the leader of your agency, you need to be the one who defines who and what your agency is.

Once you conduct your survey and share its findings with your stakeholders, 塑造企业文化的艰苦工作开始了. As for the three initiatives I referenced – community outreach, de-escalation training and a prioritization of procedural justice throughout the agency – focusing on taking actions that address these key issues will make your department’s culture vibrant, 积极的, 协作和进步.

了解更多关于Jensen Hughes 执法咨询服务 can help your agency improve oversight and management, 提高透明度, 加深社区信任.

悉尼·R的大头照. 罗伯茨,JD

作者简介

悉尼R. 罗伯茨,JD
在警察问责制方面已被证明是领导者, Sydney has provided insight and guidance on civil and human rights matters impacting law enforcement, 包括非法搜查和扣押, 拒绝律师辩护和警员枪击事件.