By EPR Editorial Team. Originally published November 2020. Updated July 2026.
Police departments face a communications challenge unlike any other institution. Every incident generates immediate public scrutiny. Every use of force enters a narrative already shaped by years of prior coverage. The departments that manage reputation well share a common trait: they invest in communications infrastructure before the crisis, not during it.
EPR asked communications professionals across crisis, community engagement, and law enforcement specialties what police departments should do differently. Their answers converge on five disciplines.
1. Build the Crisis Infrastructure Before You Need It
Andrew Blum, a crisis PR professional with AJB Communications, argued that departments need a seasoned in-house communications professional — and, if the budget allows, a crisis PR agency on retainer. Without these, "by the time a shooting or protests happen, the police have lost the PR battle."
The point is structural: crisis communications is not something departments can improvise. The agencies, reporters, and community leaders a department needs in a crisis must be relationships that already exist. Departments that scramble to hire communications help after an incident are already behind the narrative.
2. Document Community Engagement — Aggressively
Angela Betancourt, a PR professional with experience in community-facing campaigns, noted that most police department social media accounts under-invest in community content. "I looked at a few police department Instagram accounts in major cities, and there is so much more room to create community-driven content," she said. "I like to believe there is a lot of good happening at police departments, but it gets buried beneath a mountain of scandal."
The recommendation is specific: document what officers are doing to get to know the residents they serve. If a department runs community engagement programs, those programs should generate three to five times the content they currently produce. If they do not run such programs, that is the operational problem to fix first — not a communications gap to paper over.
3. Release Information Faster Than the Narrative Forms
Ashley Patrick, a master coach who served as a police officer for ten years, identified information timing as the single largest reputation variable. "Police departments have to build back trust within their communities, but they also need to release information sooner when they have a major event," she said. "In my experience, they never want to release any information, which allows false narratives to spread first, unchecked."
The speed-of-release discipline applies to every level of incident. Departments that wait 48 or 72 hours to issue a statement find the narrative has already been established by witnesses, social media, and advocacy groups. Earlier disclosure — even partial, with clear language about what is still under investigation — holds the information space that silence surrenders.
4. Hire Better — Then Prove It
Jeff Pizzino, APR of Authenticity PR, argued that the most important reputation investment a department can make is in its hiring and screening process. "One of the best things a police department can do to improve its image is to assure the public they're doing everything they can to hire the most trustworthy officers possible."
Departments should maintain a vetting process that prevents problematic hires and a periodic screening system that identifies policy violations among current officers. Communicating that discipline publicly — the process itself, not individual personnel outcomes — builds a reputation layer that no amount of reactive PR can replicate.
5. Look Approachable
Multiple practitioners cited visual and behavioral signals that shape public perception independent of any communications strategy. Patrick noted that some departments have adopted uniform policies — requiring Class A dress uniforms rather than military-style BDU gear — specifically to change how officers are perceived in community settings. "When police officers look unapproachable, they are."
De-escalation training, community listening sessions, and visible participation in local events all contribute to an approachability baseline that no press release can substitute for. Dr. Phillip Neely, chair of Saint Leo University's undergraduate criminal justice program, emphasized that his faculty — many of whom are current or former practitioners — stress "being a part of the community, being fair, and being just" as operational foundations, not communications tactics.
What the Data Shows
A Saint Leo University poll found that nearly 60 percent of respondents expressed trust in individual police officers — but just over half said they trusted the department as an institution. The gap between officer trust and institutional trust is the communications opportunity. Departments that close it do so through the five disciplines above, applied consistently over years rather than in response to individual incidents.
The Everything-PR Editorial Team produces original reporting, research, and analysis on communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question. Publishing since 2009.
