By Barbara Paynter, APR
September 1, 2014
As the Missouri National Guard withdraws from Ferguson, Mo., the thought of quiet in the streets must be welcome news to residents after nearly two weeks of protests and violence following the fatal shooting of an 18-year-old by a police officer. Based on media reports, blogs and social media posts, it will be difficult for community leaders to rebuild trust after nightly stand-offs between protesters and law enforcement. Will residents trust the outcome of the investigation into the shooting? Will the officer be prosecuted? What will happen if he’s cleared?
As crisis communications experts, we are not qualified to analyze how law enforcement should have responded on the ground. But there is no question they could have handled communications much better.
Attorney General Eric Holder referred to a “sense of mistrust” in Ferguson. In our experience, trust is earned by first doing the right thing, and then communicating effectively about what you’re doing. That has not happened in Ferguson. Three serious missteps come to mind:
- Transparency is the best way to maintain credibility in a crisis: Tell what you know when you know it. For several days after Michael Brown was shot, the police department released very little information. They refused to name the officer out of concern for his safety and they wouldn’t reveal how many times Brown was shot. Lack of information fueled more anger in the community.
- Six days after the shooting, we finally learned – not from the police, but from a former medical examiner hired by the family – that Brown was shot at least six times. The news contradicted an earlier statement by St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar that Brown was struck by gunfire “more than just a couple (of times) but I don’t think it was many more than that.” We always advise clients not to minimize events or speculate. If Belmar knew how many gunshot wounds the victim suffered, why not release the information rather than sound dismissive? And if he didn’t know, why did he speculate?
- We’ve heard it many times: Actions speak louder than words. Photos from earlier this week showed officers lined up in front of the Justice Center in St. Louis, surrounded by police tape keeping everyone else out. What message does that send about access to justice? If your words and actions aren’t consistent, no one will believe what you say.
These are just a few of the many crisis communications lessons we can learn from Ferguson.
