Executive Summary

The Summer of 2020 witnessed growing civil unrest in many U.S. cities, including one midwestern city of interest with a population of about 600,000 people. This city is experiencing continuous unrest as a result of a police-involved shooting. There have been widespread protests and complaints about law enforcement policies and funding. To determine the optimal approach for defusing this type of situation peacefully, the purpose of this paper is to develop a timely and effective crisis leadership response plan that will focus on how crisis leadership and other leadership styles can be applied in resolving these types of public safety crises. The findings that emerge from this research underscore the uniqueness of every situation and the need for a corresponding unique law enforcement intervention, but there are some steps that can be followed to facilitate timely and effective communications with all stakeholders, including the residents of cities affected by this type of civil unrest. These steps include establishing a clear and concise communication strategy, ensuring that the police department is acting in a transparent and accountable manner, seeking to deescalate the situation through dialogue and negotiation, maintaining public order and safety by using appropriate force, if necessary and responding to the needs of the community, including those affected by the protests. Finally, the paper presents a summary of the research and key findings concerning the foregoing issues in the conclusion.

Response Plan: Leading Through a Public Safety Crisis

Introduction

Today, many Americans are concerning about the current state of the country for a wide array of reasons. While the mayhem that was caused by the still-simmering Covid-19 pandemic has subsided somewhat, other events and issues continue to cause social dissension, including most especially the civil unrest that has resulted from several high-profile incidents involving law enforcement authorities killing criminal suspects, most of them members of minority communities, for spurious or even illegal reasons. Although the nationwide and even global outrage that was generated by the murder of George Floyd in May 2020 in particular remains one of the most prominent of these incidents, the United States has a dismal track record in this area and many people have clearly reached their emotional boiling point over this issue. Add to this mix the multiple other existential threats that are facing the nation today, including global warming, potentially even more deadly pandemics and a nuclear war brewing in Ukraine, it is reasonable to suggest that more civil unrest in response will follow in the foreseeable future. To help better prepare for this eventuality, the purpose of this paper is to develop a timely and effective crisis leadership response plan that will focus on how crisis leadership can be applied in resolving these types of public safety crises.

Leadership Response Planning for Crises Situations Involving Civil Unrest

Description of the Crisis

The Summer of 2020 highlighted the growing civil unrest in many U.S. cities, and the tensions that resulted from these incidents continues to boil over in various jurisdictions across the country today, including this writers city of residence which for the purposes of this analysis will be referred to as Midwestville. This city is located in a typical midwestern conurbation of approximately 600,000 people which has experienced continuous unrest as a result of a police-involved shooting. Moreover, there have also been widespread protests and complaints about law enforcement policies and funding, a trend that underscore the need for effective crisis leadership and communications as discussed further below.

Research about the Crisis Situation

Although law enforcement is the specific public safety sector that forms the focus of this leadership plan, a discussion concerning the respective roles of other public and private sector stakeholders is also provided given their importance in preparing for and responding to a public safety crisis (Byrd, 2004). While the precise circumstances of the recent police-involved shooting in Midwestville differ from those experienced in Minneapolis in May 2020 when George Floyd was killed as a result of negligence or even malice by police officers, that crisis makes it clear that media coverage can exacerbate these types of situations to the point where otherwise-peaceful protestors exercising their First Amendment rights become uncontrollably violent (Greene, 2020). Fortunately, this type of undesirable outcome can be prevented, or at least mitigated, through the use of appropriate public safety leadership and these issues are discussed further below.

Analysis of the Crisis Situation from a Public Safety Leadership Perspective

Law enforcement leaders play a critical role in shaping public responses to crises situations. For instance, again citing the example of the May 2020 killing of George Floyd by a member of the Minneapolis Police Department which resulted in local then nationwide and ultimately global protests, Kiang and Tsai (2022) report that, During periods of crisis, anchor institutions may exert leadership by issuing public statements to communicate shared institutional values, enhance morale, and signal direction in the face of crisis (p. 116). This is not to say, of course, that merely issuing a series of feel-good press releases will defuse an already violent protests, but it is to say that the lines of communication to the general public and media outlets must remain open and the response by law enforcement authorities must be transparent and justifiable as discussed further below.

Law Enforcements Role in the Crisis

In general, the overarching role of law enforcement agencies during periods of crisis is to reestablish public order to protect the safety of the public, including those who are participting in the protest, first responders, the media and innocent citizens. In this regard, Pirius (2022) emphasizes that, In times of protests, riots, and general civil unrest, the government is charged with preserving the peace (para. 3). Although law enforcement agencies from other jurisdictions and governmental levels. Including the National Guard, may also be involved in responding to crisis situations (Kiang & Tsai, 2022), other public sector organizations may also be required to participate in order to mount an effective and timely response to violent situations as discussed further below.

Other Organizations that May Be Involved

Here again, depending on the unique circumstances that are involved, local law enforcement authorities may request the assistance of other law enforcement organizations from other nearby jurisdictions as well as the state and federal governments. It is important to note, though, that the use of the National Guard is only authorized under certain circumstances (Pirius, 2022). In addition, in their capacity as crisis leaders, law enforcement authorities also require appropriate support from relevant actors in both the public and private sectors, including other first responders such as firefighters and emergency medical services (Kiang & Tsai, 2022).

Assessment of the Crisis Leadership Challenges in the Public Safety Environment the Issue Presents, including Ethical Issues

Law enforcement authorities at all levels are charged with making decisions concerning what type of intervention is needed in response to crisis situations, including those involved civil unrest. For example, Magers (2007) emphasizes that, Crisis situations create rapid and high stress responses from law enforcement agencies placing police leaders in the position of making critical decisions...…help prevent panic.

Leaders should share as much information as possible. When in doubt, act quickly, tell your public what you know and dont know, and over communicate at every step of your decision-making process.

Agencies should have phones manned and talking points prepared as soon as possible after the incident to answer to media and public. Social media can also be a powerful tool to quickly inform the public of critical information.

When it comes time for a press conference, the spokespersons should be as clear as possible, never lie, and explain why they cant comment on a particular question instead of simply using no comment.

Establish alternative communication protocols

Modern technology has made it easier to instantly communicate with both internal and external stakeholders. Advanced dispatching systems allow for fast responses. Crisis response apps and text or email alerts can instantly inform officers and citizens of emergency situations.

However, a law enforcement crisis communication plan should include alternatives if regular lines of communication fail. For example, how will the organization communicate with internal staff if the agencys computer system is down? How will they disseminate critical information to citizens if phone lines are down or there is no electricity?

Regularly evaluate and update processes

An outdated law enforcement crisis communication plan wont do much more good than no plan at all. The agencys crisis communication team should regularly review the plan, policies, and procedures to ensure they are up-to-date and account for new technology and practices.

Reviewing crisis communication plans before an incident will allow the team to spot potential scenarios they may have previously missed. They may even be able to fix issues in policies that can help prevent certain crises from occurring.

Agency leaders should also review the crisis communication plan in the aftermath of a crisis. Once things have calmed down, agency leaders can evaluate the effectiveness of crisis communications in the agency. How well did staff follow the policies and procedures? How well did the processes work? Were there any ways the crisis could have been avoided or handled better?

Integrate crisis response and communication into training

In the midst of a crisis, things quickly get hectic. Lines of communication may get crossed. Unforeseen circumstances may complicate things. It can be easy for officers to forget the correct plans and processes.

This is where training comes in. When law enforcement officers have trained in realistic scenarios, theyll know how to put the plans into practice, keep calm, and make responsible decisions.

Officer training should go over policies and procedures for potential crisis scenarios. Law enforcement agencies should also run drills and simulations to help train officers on how to respond and communicate effectively in a crisis.

Robust training materials play a critical role in preparing officers for a crisis. Training management software can enhance and streamline training. Law enforcement training software such as PowerDMS enables organizations to integrate media-rich content into online training. Instead of depending on standard training manuals and in-person classroom training, the right software will let agency leaders integrate solutions like video into digital training manuals, making the content much more engaging for users.

Department leaders can also create tests based on the training content. This compels officers to pay attention and take in critical information in order to complete the test and sign off on completion of the training module.

Law enforcement crisis communicationboth internally and to the publicrequires a rare combination of improvised decision-making and policy compliance.

Proactive planning and training helps law enforcement agencies handle this balancing act. Effective law enforcement crisis communication helps agencies ensure successful outcomes, build…