Effective citizen advisory councils
We have discussed how effective citizen advisory councils can be for building mutual trust. Not all successful chiefs of police buy into the concept, however. They complain that they do not want bickering, and at times, hostile members of the public dictating police policy. What would you tell those chiefs in order to convince them to utilize this trust building technique?
Sample Solution
Effective citizen advisory councils
Democracy is a core value of U.S. society, and citizens have a fundamental right to participate. In addition, it has been widely argued that citizen participation in government policy making produces many benefits, and because citizen participation promotes trust in governmental operations, it has continued to be a long-standing value of U.S. public administration. However, historically, the value has not been embraced by law enforcement in a meaningful manner. It is critically important for all police organizations to promote and cultivate citizen involvement with their agencies. Establishing citizen advisory boards for specific policy or project recommendations or the review of personnel practices can be useful. The implementation of body-worn cameras is an ideal example of a project that might greatly benefit from the perspective of a citizen board. A citizen advisory board can be a critical component to establishing an open culture between a public agency and the community.
