In 2010, I was transferred to the position of Public Information Officer for my agency. Little did I know what that would entail over the next ten years. What. I learned was a series of valuable lessons, which have helped me develop my PIO skills, and over the duration of this post, I hope that the lessons I have learned will provide you with some insight into being a Public Information Officer.Training
When I first became a PIO I had a somewhat different view of what the job consisted of. I certainly knew that a PIO had to write press releases and talk to the media, but being from a relatively small size agency in a suburb meant that this position was part-time. I had other duties that required a large amount of my time. I was also fairly comfortable talking in front of the public. I had been doing crime prevention presentations for years and worked in our local schools as a School Resource Officer. So talking to the media shouldn’t be difficult, right. Well a month into 2010, an incident occurred with a civilian employee that resulted in a lot of scrutiny on our agency. Our local media outlets pressed hard, wanted information and the story made the 5, 6 and 10 news cycle when it broke. then repeated itself when an arrest occurred. I quickly found out that training was something I truly needed to seek out.
Luckily our local FBI office had a world-class PIO and he offered a 3-day course that provided me the necessary building blocks which I freely jumped into being a PIO for life. So do not underestimate training. Over this last decade, I have sought out training opportunities from local organizations and former reporters such as Rick Rosenthol, who had a course for PIO’s he dubbed “Feeding the Animals.” But there are others, the NIOA has great training at their conference. FEMA has multiple PIO courses and FBI-LEEDA offers both Media and Public Relations as well as their Master PIO course. So look for, seek out and take as much training as you can. Do not underestimate training opportunities or feel that you have had enough. The takeaway from this is always seek new training, it helps keep you fresh, reminds you of the basics and keeps you from falling into bad habits. Seek out training at every opportunity.
Social Media
In 2010 there were a handful of agencies using social media, now many are. But looking back on what my agency did, compared to where we right now remind me that you should not just say we are doing enough. Social media is an amazing tool for communities to use, I am not just talking about having an account, I mean truly utilizing the platforms you have chosen to engage the community. Now I do not specifically mean that the agency doesn't want to engage their community, I am sure they do. But so many upper brass have fears, misunderstandings or plan out do not see the value in social media that it is a side thought in their strategic plan. Social media is a valuable tool and it has to be considered as a vital role in community engagement for any organization. The public, expects information being put out via social media keeping them informed. People consume more news through social media then they do by watching television, reading a newspaper or listening to the radio. There is incredible value in understanding and utilizing social media at it; score function, of being social. That means not just posting information for the public to see. But making those posts engaging, entertaining, educating and here is the best part interactive. Social media is about the interaction between people. When questions get asked, respond to them, When comments are made, have a conversation.Social media is a vital tool, for any agency but in particular smaller agencies surrounded by a larger metropolitan area. Small agencies get little or no time with traditional news media. Of course, we send out press releases and yes information get's disseminated. But, getting out information about an event, a minor crime, seeking information about a missing person, a suspect or just telling a positive story about your staff frequently goes under-reported in traditional news media. Whey because news broadcasts are only 30-minutes long and you are competing against all those other agencies for a spot that is only 30-seconds to a minute in length. But if you use social media, you can run a live broadcast via Facebook Live, Periscope or record a video and post it on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, NextDoor and any other platform you have to reach the community the actually has a vested interest in your agency. That post will be shared, retweeted, re-posted, tagged by your followers to there followers and the reach could go viral!
So using social media is not flying by the seat of your pants either. It involves planning, reviewing what works, what doesn't it involves looking forward to the future. Think about your content ahead of time, get some photo editing skills and plans. A content calendar is paramount in running social media. That is why you should be looking ahead a week, a month or several months ahead to formulate the basis of what information you are posting or sharing. This way you have a direction and the road map to get to where you want to go.
So they take away from social media is simple, use it at its core, be social, interact, respond, be engaging and above all be true to what your agency represents in the community. Don't just copy what other agencies are doing, social media allows you to create your own pathway.
Networking
So most people working in the role of their agencies Public Information Officer is not doing that role full time. In addition, they do not have the staff to assist them. Yes, larger agencies a primary spokesperson, media specialist, social media staff, large budgets for software. If you are from Chicago PD you even have a rolling media car, that goes out city-wide to cover events, activities, good, bad or ugly for CPD. The reality is when it hits the fan in Chicago, they have numerous people to assist with the endless phone calls, text messages, emails and social media comments that will come. But if you are from a small agency responding to all of those in
queries across multiple fronts might be incredibly difficult, if not impossible.
That is where networking comes into play. Networking involves creating relationships, agreements with other Public Information Officers from agencies near you who can assist. They would not be the face of your department, but they might be the person who handles emails inquires, takes phone calls, monitors your social media accounts as inquiries come. They can help you manage the pace of information as it comes in. The pace will be overwhelming, to which you can be quickly bogged down answer calls. That networking agreement with your local PIO’s can help you identify priority calls, emails, assist with writing or distributing press releases after they are approved. These assistant PIO’s can also be the person at a press conference, who stands in the back of the room and provides guidance to move off of topics, when questions are too sensitive or when someone has a great question and that person needs to be heard. Don’t discount those networking opportunities for assistance and most of all you need not go through a crisis event on your own.Crisis Communications
Crisis communications are truly at the forefront of what a PIO does. But in smaller agencies, the duties of a PIO can quickly be overrun because they are typically a one-person shop. The key to Crisis Communications is preparation. Several years ago at the NIOA conference, Judy Pal, PIO guru conducted a session on developing crisis templates. For the next hour, we all broke into groups and developed templates for almost any eventuality. The process resulted in working through the process of what to do, what to expect and what message you will need to have in order to work through the crisis. That lesson taught me something extremely valuable. So as a Public Information Officer you take the steps to pre-plan before that crisis hits. Take that time to identify certain crises that might impact your agencies. Some of the tops of my head include the arrest of a staff member, the death of a staff member, the arrest of a public official in your jurisdiction, a kidnapping, bank robbery with hostages or anyone’s worst nightmare an active shooting event with fatalities.
So the takeaway from this is simple, pre-plan, put it on paper. I actually wrote a PIO manually, putting together everything needed for a PIO. That manual has been a valuable resource to me and it has gone through numerous iterations over the years. It has also had me navigate through several crises that have impacted my agency, the manual you create will assist you with yours.
Technology
Over the last ten years, technology has really been a major resource for the Public Information Officer. The obvious piece of technology is the smartphone since I have been a PIO, the smartphone has really gone from just a device to send text messages or make telephone calls. The smartphone has developed into a full-service production device. I happened to be at a wedding and typed an entire press release on my smartphone, converting it to a word document, uploaded it to my agency's website, and distributed it out to the news media all while having dessert at the wedding. I know that isn’t all the complicated now, but had I not had the smartphone, I would have had to go out to my car, grab my laptop, find a quiet spot and to feel the wrath of my wife. So the smartphone saved me. But, the smartphone has the capability to take high-quality photos and videos. Those photos or videos can be edited, mixed using software and produced all while standing on the scene. In the past, you would have had to shot the video, leave the location, do the editing on a laptop or desktop and then distribute it. The smartphone has truly made my life as a PIO much easier as I know it has helped so many of you.
Other technology includes obviously a laptop, tablet, to allow you to connect to your work network and respond to inquiries, author press releases, access mug shots, etc. A high-quality photo editing software or someone in your agency or city that can edit images for you. Not every PIO has to be good at editing, but I have found it as a valuable resource in making logos, info-graphics and other imagery for my agency. I currently use Adobe CC suite, which gives me access to all of the Adobe products. This goes to my next piece of technology video editing software. Yes I said earlier in the
Self-Care
Self-care is so important and as a Public Information Officer, you need to be able to recognize the importance of it. That means you need to disconnect, leave work behind, when you are not on call and step away from work. You may have heard this term tossed around, but what does it really mean? Self-care is not an exercise regimen or seeing a psychologist (although it could encompass those things). Rather, it’s a conscious process of considering our needs and seeking out activities and habits that replenish our energy—so that we can do our jobs better. This last part is often difficult to understand. Our Type A personalities often lead us to believe that we do our best when we commit all our resources to something, working ourselves harder and harder. But that’s simply not true.
We only have a finite amount of energy each day to expand. Just as taking a day off from the gym can help us train harder the next day, participating in activities outside law enforcement helps us refuel emotionally, which makes us more effective when we go back on duty. Combating the negative mindset also comes into play here. When you consider that negative emotion burns twice as much energy as a positive emotion, the challenge, and skill to remain positive make its own case. We need to remind ourselves to regularly assess their energy levels and focus on the positive. So don't discount self-care, the life of a PIO is stressful and you need to prepare to counteract this staff.
Succession Planning
Succession planning is always something we have to plan for. Remember we will not be in this position forever, so not only are you planning on training someone who can take your place, but also the person who is your backup. That person who can step into the role, when you are off duty, in training, on vacation, so you have that time for self-care. This means you have to be sure you identify someone in your agency who your leadership will accept into that role. Remember they represent the face of the agency and will be held to a higher standard, as well as being that person, whom everyone will turn to when a press release needs to be written or them
media starts calling. Once that person has been identified, you need to get them the same type of training that you received. This way they have the background that you have, preparing them to eventually take over the role of a PIO when the time comes.
Wrapping it up!As my agency's Public Information Officer, I take this profession extremely seriously. I have high expectations of what I do as well as the materials I put out. There is considerable time spent by me working to do the very best for my agency. So when I decided to write this blog post, I knew that not everyone was going to be covered, but that what was covered I consider extremely valuable towards the success of any Public Information Officer.
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