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Infographic: Words matter

Best practices for community communications around police policy

Police word cloud

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When it comes to communicating about critical issues, choosing the right words to convey your message is essential. The challenge facing law enforcement is to communicate clearly to myriad stakeholders, each of whom perceives our words through their own lenses of experience and biases.

Download this Police1 infographic to find out what words you should use more and what words you should use less when formulating a communications plan around changes to your department’s policy or the introduction of new police policies.

Judy Pal is the founder and principal of 10-8 Communications LLC and conducts media training, communications counsel, and virtual training for public safety across North America. She is a former assistant commissioner with the NYPD and chief of staff with both the Baltimore and Milwaukee police departments. A former broadcast journalist, she also served as head of communications for Atlanta, Savannah and Halifax (Canada) police. Learn more at www.10-8communications.com.