Branding Your Agency Creating the Image

Branding Your Agency
Creating the Image
Dr. Gary J. Margolis, Chief of Police
University of Vermont
Dr. Penny Shtull, Professor
Norwich University
The Public Image of the Police
Final Report to the IACP
By
The Administration of Justice Program
George Mason University
October 2, 2001
http://www.theiacp.org/profassist/ethics/public_image.htm
General Police Image
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The majority of the public has a
substantial degree of confidence
in the police as a general
institution.
Findings
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Community policing may have
some modest, long-term positive
influence on citizens' satisfaction
with police, but it is unlikely to
produce a "quick fix."
Findings
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The public's perceptions of how
police treat them appear to affect
their willingness to obey the law
and obey the police.
Public Perceptions of Policing
Processes
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A substantial majority of the
public express positive
attitudes about the fairness of
the police, but a significant
portion rate them as “only fair
or poor.”
Findings

Over-all legitimacy of the police
depends more on citizens'
perceptions of how police treat
them than on their perceptions of
police success in reducing crime.
Findings

The public has become less
accepting of police use of force
from the mid-1960s to the end
of the 20th century. 33% of
the public perceive police
brutality as an issue.
General Police Image

The trend in respect for the police
has been declining since the midto-late 1960s.
Findings

Racial minorities consistently
show lower assessments of
police than do whites.
General Police Image

Citizens’ experiences with the
police influence their general
image of the police.
General Police Image

Most citizens regard the mass
media as their prime source of
information about crime, and
crime news is the context for
most mass media accounts of
police work.
General Police Image

Entertainment media present
images of police that distort the
realities of every-day police work.
A question for the police…
Do you define yourself, or do
others do it for you!?
White Water Issues
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Recruiting
Retention
Bias Free
Policing
Excessive Force
Community
Relationships
Community
Policing
White Water Issues
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Character &
Ethical Issues
Leadership Gap
Internal Stresses
Lack of
introspection
Diversity Issues
In spite of our historic successes…
Our profession today is in a “malaise”
(disease/sickness). We are coming off the
most significant 10 years of
advancements in policing in our history.
We led it, we did it, we were the thinkers
and the implementers and the evaluators
– yet it isn’t enough. In our “malaise” we
are not leaning forward into the fight, but
we are back on our heels in survival.
Chief William Bratton, LAPD
For Such a Time as This …
We Have Been Called
to Serve!
We have been
preparing for this
career all our lives!
What will we make of
our opportunity!?
It starts with you…

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What do you offer?
What do you expect?
How do you add value
to our profession? Your
agency? The lives of
those you touch daily?
For such a time as this, we are…
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Better trained
Better educated
More diverse
Better equipped
Continuing to embrace
a C.P. philosophy
More compassionate
and service oriented
Contributing to
historic reductions in
crime
Brand Positioning
Positioning identifies the true
nature of the service, and whom it
is for…
Developing a “BRAND” position
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Uniqueness
Relevance
Timeliness
Clarity
13-Point Branding Manifesto
1
Branding is about getting
your community to see you
as the only solution to their
problem.
2
Advertising grabs minds. Branding gets
hearts.
Advertising is not branding. Branding is
branding.
Advertising raises the awareness of the
brand you create, and helps build image
and trust.
3
Your logo isn’t your brand. It’s
your logo.
4
The stronger your brand, the less
susceptible you are to being
defined by outside influences.
5
Build from your strengths. (While
this may seem like a “Duh”, it’s
important that you be what you are,
not what you wish you were.)
6
The success of a brand is related to
your ability to maintain consistency
and frequency.
7
If you can’t articulate it, neither
can anyone else.
8
Just because you’ve heard about
it doesn’t mean it’s well branded.
Branding and awareness are not
the same thing.
9
The more you “niche,” the better
you do.
10
The smaller your budget is, the
stronger your brand must be.
11
If the branding is wrong, so is
everything else.
12
When you get right down to it,
your brand is nothing more than
a promise — one that you need to
make and keep to yourself and
your community.
13
Be Honest. Be Real. Be the Brand.
Examples
1. What do the following evoke?
2. What messages do they send?
www.uvm.edu/police
Brands must…
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Make a promise that can be validated
everyday by messages and people
Be enduring and expansive
Be authentic, honest and believable
Define an emotional link between the
department and the people
Elements of the police brand
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Mission…
Uniforms…
Vehicle striping…
Color schemes…
Web site…
IMAGE
Is EVERYTHING
Contact
Dr. Gary J. Margolis
[email protected]
802-656-2027
www.uvm.edu/police
Dr. Penny R. Shtull
[email protected]
802-485-2373
www.norwich.edu