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Have your say: What media training would best support police leaders?
Police Oracle is exploring how it can extend its professional development offer for subscribers to include practical, relevant media training for police leaders.
At a time when inspectors and senior officers are operating under growing public scrutiny, faster-moving online narratives and increased pressure to communicate clearly, there is a strong case for more support in this area. But before developing any new offer, Police Oracle wants to hear directly from readers about what would be most useful.
There are three possible areas of focus under consideration.
The first is media issues in a neighbourhood policing context. This is a developing area and differs from traditional media skills training. Rather than teaching officers how to “do” media interviews, the focus would be on helping them understand the issues they may need to consider when local policing matters attract public attention, community concern or reputational risk. To our knowledge, there is currently little formal training available in this space.
The second option is misinformation and disinformation. This is fast becoming a major concern across neighbourhood policing, response, CID and public protection. False or distorted narratives can spread rapidly, affect public confidence and create real operational challenges. This is likely to be seen by many as one of the most urgent training needs.
The third option is basic media skills. This would focus on the essentials: how to prepare for an interview, what to think about in delivery, and practical tips for handling media engagement confidently and professionally, without requiring participants to undertake full practical exercises.
Police Oracle is now asking readers to help shape this next stage of its professional development offer.
Please take part in the poll and tell us which of these three training inputs you most like Police Oracle to provide for subscribers. The outcome will directly influence where we focus our future development.
Have your say...
Category: Research
Whenever a senior officer appears in the media, their obvious risk aversion, prioritisation of corporate and reputational preservation ahead of anything else, and lack of connection with the thoughts, feelings and concerns of the audience is stark! Rather than trying to train the untrainable, why not employ professional media savvy professionals who can deliver to camera as part of a corporate media team? This appears to work well in other countries e.g. the USA. Technical or operational questions could of course be addressed by officers with the required knowledge.
As far as trying to address the disconnect between facts and fiction on the internet. That is entirely the responsibility of the viewer / listener. Sadly, we have a whole new generation who lack the ability to think critically and unquestionably believe whatever is put in front of them. I am not convinced that battle is winnable!
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