The St. Louis County Police Academy is offering a workshop beginning in October titled “Officer-Involved Shooting- You Can Win With the Media.” The workshop references the shooting death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown by a white police officer on Aug. 9 in Ferguson, Missouri, and the ensuing riots and protests. Rather than deal with the circumstances surrounding the protests, the workshop instead focuses specifically on the how the police can control their image in the media. The workshop states that there will be numerous video clips to illustrate key points of how police can present a better image to the media.
These topics include:
- Meet the 900 Pound Gorilla
- DWI and the Media
- Feeding the Animals
- “No comment” is a comment
- Don’t Get Stuck on Stupid!
- Managing Media Assault and Battery
- Managing the Media When Things Get Ugly (Think Ferguson)
- Managing the Media in a Crisis (Including Lessons Learned from Newton, CT School Shooting)
These topics bring into question just how police interact with the public and the media. The very nature of the bullet points infer animosity between the police and the public. The workshop is scheduled to take place on Oct. 24, 2014 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The St. Louis County and Municipal Police Academy is located one 1266 Sutter Ave., St. Louis, Mo.
Instead of focusing on how to “Win with the media” perhaps a better workshop would be “How to win with the community.”
