Meeting with community groups on a regular basis is essential for law enforcement leaders striving to craft organizational priorities that are responsive to citizens’ safety concerns and maintaining the public trust. But, all too often, what is designed to be a means of information gathering, clear communication, and tangible action items quickly devolves into an “open mic night” dominated by a very small number of vocal individuals who may or may not live in the community or represent the community’s priorities as a whole.

In this two-hour webinar, Chief Harry P. Dolan (Ret.) will draw on 32 years of law enforcement experience and 25 years as a chief of police to identify and explain the proven strategies that law enforcement leaders should employ to conduct community meetings in a way that facilitates meaningful communication instead of shouting matches among the few and silence among the many in the community that they serve.

Topics discussed will include:

• Focusing on the Goals of Community Meetings: Maintaining the focus of both officers and members of the community on why we are here—to engage in collaboration between the community and the police in order to identify local challenges, agree on potential solutions, and implement practical action plans.
• Setting the Tone at the Outset: Developing the skills to prepare, structure, and lead community meetings that foster productive dialogue and long-term cooperation.
• Remembering that If Everything is a Priority, Nothing is a Priority: Soliciting a finite number of concerns—rather than an unending “laundry list” of issues—such that the department is able to formulate action plans that can be utilized to improve quality of life issues for community members.
• Constructive Problem-Solving Approaches: Identifying what works in facilitating frank conversation and creating action items in community meetings. Assist in developing practical skills to allow law enforcement officers to lead community meetings that build stronger partnerships, improve public safety outcomes, and promote a sense of community ownership and shared responsibility.