Police Seek ​“Strategic” Messaging Help

Show that the chief’s in charge. Publish civilian complaints. Make each cop a spokesperson. Or, just save the money the city is planning to spend on a new media consultant for the police department instead.

As police brass review applications from prospective media strategists, New Haveners offered those suggestions for how the department can relate better to the community.

The department recently posted a request for proposals (RFP) seeking consultants to help the department develop a ​“Strategic Media Plan.”

“The plan needs to address the current and potential future issues and challenges that are faced every day with the community and media in law enforcement,” reads the request. Read it here.

Chief Frank Limon said the department envisions spending no more than $20,000 on the contract. The department expects to be able to cover the cost with existing grant money.

The request comes as the police department faces public criticism on several fronts related to the recent crackdown on New Haven’s club district. People have complained that cops have been verbally and physically abusive and prevented people from recording police action in public places. A police raid of a private Yale party on Oct. 2 resulted in such charges, as well as national press coverage of outraged Yalies.

The bidding window closed on Sept. 28, with two proposals received, from a Virginia-based PR firm and from a Massachusetts company.

Media strategy has been a concern of the police department even before the recent troubles, said Rob Smuts, chief administrative officer for the city. The RFP was part of ​“a new chief coming in and wanting to make his mark reinvigorating community policing,” Smuts said.

Smuts said Chief Frank Limon, who took over in March, was ​“looking for somebody to help shape communications strategy.” The media consultant will help the department not just with the press, but also in community relations, Smuts said.

As the department determines whom to pay for their consultation, the Independent solicited free advice from several local department-watchers: a lawyer, an activist, a new-media guy, a student, and a PR man. One decried the request as a search for a ​“spin doctor” at a time when the department should be working on real reform. Another praised the department for working on how police are perceived. Others offered suggestions for how police can better communicate with citizenry — from databases to face time.

Another piece of advice: Get the department’s website up and running. The back of police cars advertise www.newhavenpolice.org; the site has been down since Sept. 1.

Every Cop A PR Expert

Ben Berkowitz (pictured) is in the business of improving communication between citizens and their municipalities. As the founder of the non-emergency citizen complaints site SeeClickFix, Berkowitz works to provide neighbors and city workers with a web-based way to work together. But he didn’t have a high-tech solution to offer to the problem of police media relations.

His advice? Make every officer a spokesperson.

“‘Media Strategy’ is a weird way of putting it. That makes me nervous. It almost sounds like ​‘PR Strategy,’” Berkowitz said. ​“If the guys on the ground are really good at communicating and listening, you really shouldn’t be concerned about your PR strategy.”

Beat cops should be taught how to communicate better one on one, Berkowitz said. The department should have a ​“distributed communications model,” he said. ​“Every single officer in the New Haven police department should be the best PR person for the department.”

“I think hiring an outside consultant is fine, if that person is going to train the people at the bottom” and not just be a ​“media consultant to the chief,” Berkowitz said.

The department could do more with Twitter, Facebook, and text messaging, and Nixle, Berkowitz said. But the best media strategy is old-fashioned face-time, he said. ​“They need to be outside their vehicles” and interacting with neighbors.

Take Charge, Chief!

Barbara Fair (pictured), a community advocate for social justice and against police misconduct, said the chief needs to show he’s the boss. She brought up the case of Officer Jason Bandy, whom the previous chief recommended firing after he called in sick then got drunk and into trouble at a bar. Bandy got fired. Then, against the former chief’s wishes, he got his job back.

It looks like ​“the union’s running the police department,” Fair said. ​“The community would like to know that the chief is in charge.”

She mentioned that the city’s spokeswoman interrupted Chief Limon and spoke for him when he was asked about Bandy. That shouldn’t happen, she said. The chief should take control of his department away from the administration and the unions, she said.

Publish Complaints

Steven Winter (pictured) is a Yale student and former campaign operative who has recently turned to activism after a brush with New Haven cops. He said the department should make more information publicly available, including serious complaints about police misconduct.

“Everyone who gets arrested by police — their charges are public,” Winter said. The same should be true of citizen complaints about cops, he argued.

But not all complaints.

“Some of these complaints really are spurious,” Winter said.

If complaints are filed repeatedly about one officer, or if the complaints are of a particularly serious nature, those complaints should be searchable and available online, Winters said. There should be a database of internal investigations and their results, he said.

“Then they can say that they’re transparent,” Winter said. ​“Ultimately it would serve them well.”

Quit Cussing

“It sounds like they’re looking for a spin doctor, and what we need is someone who can come in to that department and help professionalize things,” said Mike Jefferson, a New Haven civil rights lawyer. Jefferson has been a vocal critic of the police and an adviser to several people who feel they’ve been mistreated by the cops.

Police need to ​“stop using the F‑bomb,” Jefferson said. ​“Stop cussing people out for asking simple questions. Learn to be a professional. I thought that was part of their training. Now we’re paying someone to provide additional training to the police.”

The department should put the consultant fee towards reforming and professionalizing the department, Jefferson said.

“It all sounds like a bunch of spin going on here,” Jefferson said. ​“That’s what media consultants do, they help their clients put on a good face.”

The department is looking for help because it’s been ​“taking a whacking recently,” Jefferson said. ​“And deservedly so, I might add.”

Good For Them

Chuck Mascola (pictured), who runs a local PR firm, had words of praise for the cops.

“I commend the police in the first place for reaching out,” he said. It’s important for companies to recognize that while they may be experts in what they do, they are not necessarily experts in communicating with their clients or audience.

“I’m completely unqualified to be a policeman,” Mascola said. The average cop is similarly unqualified to be a media consultant, ​“and understand why their world often clashes with non-police.”

“As a resident and business owner, I’m concerned about things that have happened over the last couple of months,” Mascola said. For the police to recognize that they might need outside input ​“shows very humble thinking and good foresight,” he said.

Mascola said he couldn’t presume to offer an advice to the department himself. Whoever comes in as a consultant will have to listen to exactly what the department is looking for and what the community needs, he said.