Monday 20 December 2010

Honesty is Always the best policy.

This is the face of the communications & PR company that the Ottawa Police has hired to polish their bad apples in order to craft a communications *game plan* and to correct its image.

Face Value's slogan is: Trust. Worthy.

The events caught on CCTV at the cop shop are merely the tip of the iceberg. There has been considerable public exposure of officers and special constables who engage in unprofessional conduct, brutality and illicit practices. It will take more than a communications *game plan* to halt the rising tide of citizens' disgust with those who defend the actions and behaviours of thugs and bullies.

Nonetheless, Derek Johnston has invested time and effort to marketing his company to clients such as the Ottawa Police.
From here, we learn that he presents himself as a specialist

"in addressing the issues of how police organizations manage their reputations as part of their risk management strategies and how they communication risk [sic] to stakeholders and the public."
Okay doke. Perhaps Johnston is proposing to exploit social media in support of his client. If so, he might counsel in particular Chief Vern White to heed advice proffered by Marta Kagan.

Listen.

Messages are not conversations.

It's a dialogue not a monologue.

Relinquish control.

Don't F**k with people.

In a world of social media, honesty is the only policy.

What was that last point again? Honesty is the only policy. Good luck with that, Johnston. Hope that Chief White does not choose to emulate Toronto Chief of Police Bill Blair.

Update: More about that contract with Face Value Communications - Ottawa police services board chair Eli El-Chantiry said: “We want to be transparent, accountable and we want the public to expect no less from us.”

7 comments:

thwap said...

"Don't F**k with people" is also a good one. One thing little Melanie Morris is obviously hopeless for.

deBeauxOs said...

Is MM worse than the rest of those bullies, thwap? Or is it that we have higher expectations of women as cops?

thwap said...

Melanie was the constant in the Bonds and Delay incidents, and she was the one doing all the kicking of both prisoners.

That's why I singled her out.

Beijing York said...

I thought the public were the stakeholders? What other stakeholders other than the municipal government and the public are there?

deBeauxOs said...

Not sure, Beijing York, what Johnston means since that workshop sentence is fairly garbled.

Crown attorneys and others involved in the judicial process?

Beijing York said...

Well here in Winnipeg, the police certainly kowtow to the business community - always trying to clean-up the streets of homeless persons in order to make shopping more pleasant.

A good dose of honesty and transparency would go a long way to creating trust.

Beijing York said...

An addendum to the above, based on the Wiki bio of newly appointed senator and "clergyman" Don Meredith, I would guess that religious leaders may also be another identifiable stakeholder group.

"Meredith is a member of the Chief’s Advisory Council for the Toronto Police Services and has also been a member of the York Region Community Police Liaison since 2004, as well as a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Consultative Committee since 2005.[2] He is the former Co-Chair of the Black Community Police Consultative Committee an advisory group of community members who advise the police on various issues."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Meredith_(Canadian_clergyman)

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