Beat the Streets

The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) is a leadership organization that serves as the professional voice of law enforcement.  It is well respected around the world.  Last week, I led a half-day seminar on presentation skills and crisis communications for a splinter group of this organization at the request of Anna Laszlo, a leading national trainer and curriculum developer in the criminal justice field.  Anna and I became friends while exercising our penchant for musical theater on the board of Seattle’s 5^th Avenue Theatre. (It's amazing what you can learn about people's attitudes from West Side Story and A Chorus Line.)

My association with law enforcement began back before the turn when I helped create a national event called Beat the Streets to draw attention to the advent of bicycle patrols in our urban areas. Since Seattle was a pioneer in patrolling the streets on bicycles, what better place to hold the inaugural events than here. Police Departments from coast to coast participated and we got strong support from the equipment community, bicycles to helmets to bullet-proof sunglasses and more. Today there are bike cops in almost every community across the country. It was great to be there at the beginning and my relationship has continued,

The program we put together last week was a pilot for part of a week-long seminar on leadership development and interpersonal skills. I was impressed by the enthusiasm and knowledge of the group of 50 or so law enforcement leaders from across the US and Canada.  They were highly engaged in the process and obviously came to improve and hone their already considerable skills. Oh, and by the way, they were all women.

More than one of them came up to me during the half day I spent there to say, “Do you feel lucky…to be the only man here with all these women?” I was afraid to say anything but “Yes” and, seriously, I really did consider myself lucky.  They were a fantastic group.

I like to use television dramas to underscore important points when I’m instructing and my sessions here were no exception.  I have a particular affinity for the recent program called “West Wing”, which took place in the communications offices of the White House.  And even more appropriate was the fact that the chief communications officer in the series was a woman. Her handling of a crisis situation in the San Juan Islands was our focus.

Added to this session was a dose of the current series “Blue Bloods” starring Tom Selleck as the New York Police Commissioner.  Tom helped me effectively illustrate several points about presentation skills, although my wife Jane says he’s gained too much weight lately. (This is an observation that I refuse to comment on.)

Law enforcement is very exposed these days. If someone is in a position of leadership, it is likely that one way or another he or she will be on the firing line in front of the public and/or the media. Even internally, it’s important to present the right information in a transparent but studied way.

I gave the group a “jump ball” on the George Zimmerman case, which had just been decided by the jury. What would you say to the public if the six women had decided he was guilty. The group talked among themselves and interestingly they were universal in their response. Guilty or not, the verdict didn't matter.This was the result of due process, they said. It’s just the way it is.  Stay calm and don’t overreact.

That’s the kind of thoughtful action that is required today. Considering your audience and its temperament is a crucial factor.  We talked more about it and I could see these leaders spent a lot of time keeping their fingers on the pulse of their communities. It was very reassuring.

The few hours we spent together were fruitful.  Our discussions were helpful and they found some new and different considerations to take home with them.  Anna Laszlo’s skill as a trainer was very apparent and she made some suggested uses of the new tools I had equipped the group with to great advantage.  Not the least of which was video taping representatives of the groups we had broken into, using the presentations skills they had just learned to describe the value of the seminar. That is something that can definitely encourage other departments to participate in this kind of training.

Law Enforcement plays a very important role in our society today. Mental preparedness, sensitivity and compassion are perhaps needed even more that physical training in some ways.  The Women’s Leadership Institute of the International Association of Police Chiefs is focused on these subjects. It should make us all more confident about those who protect us here at home.  I valued my time with a few of the real professionals and hope I strengthened their skills in several ways..