What should police officers do to improve their reputations nationwide?
There are many advocacy organizations – like the National Police Association – who work to bring national and local attention to the anti-police efforts challenging effective law enforcement at every turn, and to build public support for needed actions through radio public service announcements, legal filings, articles and more. That's one way – there are many other ways.
PR pro Angela Betancourt said, "I would suggest police departments nationwide double down on their community engagement 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. I like to believe there is a lot of good happening at police departments, but it gets buried beneath a mountain of scandal."
"What are police officers doing to get to know the residents of the communities they serve? That needs to be heavily documented. If a police department is doing a lot of community engagement, that's great, and I would ask them to triple down on that type of content. If they aren't doing that, then I would advise they address the challenges holding them back. A major thing I have learned in my career is that PR can't fix an operational problem."
