Okay, okay, it’s starting to seem like I’m picking on the Winnipeg Police Service. But I can’t resist pointing out that they are reaping what they sowed in their current PR battle about the case of the stolen camera card. A local man is accusing the police of confiscating his camera’s memory card after he refused to stop taking photos of a police takedown of a couple of ne’er-do-wells.

After the police service’s recent display of selective memory (what many have called dishonesty) on the witness stand at the Taman Inquiry, is it really a surprise to see the service is having a hard time getting people to believe its side of the story? (Police say they didn’t take the memory card.) This is how credibility affects performance of organizations. This crisis of confidence is far from over for the police and that is a crying shame because most of the cops I’ve met have been straight-up ‘good guys’ trying to do what’s right for our community.

Sound public relations is rooted in credibility and trust. If they’re missing, it doesn’t matter what you say… no one is going to believe you.

The public portion of the Taman inquiry is finally at an end. That is sure to come as a relief for both Winnipeg and East St. Paul police services whose members’ actions and testimony gave them each rather large and ugly black eyes. I refer to the chain of officers who took the stand and incredulously claimed no memory of the night’s events leading up to that terrible collision that saw Derek Harvey-Zenk kill Crystal Taman after a night of drinking and partying with other officers.

Worse still there have been whispers that the East St. Paul’s police service deliberately botched the investigation, allowing former Winnipeg officer Harvey-Zenk (a colleague of the St. Andrew’s chief) to walk away with only house arrest.

We’ve heard complaints that Harvey-Zenk’s colleagues (and fellow party-goers) have been unfairly tarred. People who believe that haven’t been paying attention; these officers made their beds and now they have to lie in them. Police officers who claim no memory of details of events like these are, in my opinion, either completely incompetent or lying.

A lot needs to be done from a crisis communications and public relations perspective. Police forces need credibility to exercise their authority. The public has to believe that police officers will act fairly and serve justice even if the criminals happen to be people of power or fellow officers. I’d be tempted to sack several of these officers because they have failed to live up to the honourable standards which we expect. If they can’t be sacked, they should be severely reprimanded. It wouldn’t be out of line to hold them in rank for the rest of their careers.

I was encouraged to hear that the Rural Municipality of East St. Paul offered an apology to the Taman family for what was clearly an incompetent investigation. That action shows the RM council understands how awful people perceive this case. I’ve not heard the same from the City of Winnipeg or its police service. Our civic leaders and police chief need to address this credibility gap immediately or things will get worse for the police. If nothing is done, then everyone will assume it’s just business as usual and our collective trust in our police service will continue to erode.

As I wrote before, this is both a management issue for the police (they need to execute on policies) and a communications issue. It’s not enough to do something, you have to be seen to be doing it.

Adam Dooley.

I was on CBC Radio One’s Information Radio this morning. They wanted me to give them a PR person’s view of what’s going on with the Winnipeg Police Service, especially with regard to the ongoing Taman inquiry. The inquiry is looking in to the events that led to former Constable Derek Harvey-Zenk’s fatal collision with Crystal Taman. Harvey-Zenk had been drinking, but his arrest was apparently mishandled and evidence botched. He ended up with house arrest and there was a public outcry that led to the current inquiry.

The public has heard officer after officer take the stand only to (incredibly) lose almost all memory of the events that transpired.

It’s a PR disaster for the police service. More than most organizations, the police need to enjoy the trust and confidence of the public to do their jobs. If their credibility is impugned, their moral authority declines… precipitously. Judging from letters to the editor and countless ‘water cooler’ chats, I think that is exactly what’s happening here.

So what can or should the police do? In my opinion, Police Chief Keith McCaskill and city leaders should take the time during this inquiry (sooner rather than later) to express to both the police service and to the public that they are concerned with what they’re hearing. They should also use the opportunity to remind everyone not to jump to conclusions; the inquiry needs to run its course. But the chief needs to indicate that he is seeing and hearing what everyone else is.

McCaskill’s real work will begin once the inquiry reports its findings. He’ll have to do three things. First, he needs to identify the issues that are causing this credibility crisis. What are the roots here? The thin blue line is an excuse, not an answer. If there’s a culture of entitlement in the police service, he needs to attack it head on. That leads us to the second step: he needs to take action. If that means disciplinary action, then he needs to act swiftly and fairly. Third, he needs to communicate to both the police service itself and to the public at large what he’s done and why he’s doing it. Expectations need to be reset along with the high standards the police are held to.

I have a lot of sympathy for the Chief and for the officers on the force who are being tarred with a big, undiscerning brush. It’s not fair, but it’s reality. McCaskill has already showed a lot of character and leadership by testifying at the inquiry as soon as his name was dragged in to the affair. He needs to show the same grit in weeks and months to come to restore the public’s confidence in the service.