Join us March 21, 2019 at 1:00 p.m. EST as we welcome Julie E. Buchwald, Community Relations Coordinator and Special Investigator for the Office of the Inspector for the Los Angeles Police Department to discuss best practices and effective strategies for civilian oversight agencies when working with the media.

Please note that this event is open only to the first 100 registrants. We therefore recommend that you register early to guarantee your spot. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information on how to complete the the final step to ensure that you are registered and able to join the webinar.

One of the more significant challenges for civilian oversight agencies is determining how to best interface with the media – both generally, on a daily basis, and when a critical incident strikes.

What, then, are some best practices for handling public outreach – specifically to the media – for a civilian oversight agency? Julie E. Buchwald, Community Relations Coordinator and Special Investigator for the Office of the Inspector General of the LAPD in Los Angeles, will share one tested methodology for creating and sustaining a media strategy, which can be generally adapted to any civilian oversight agency.

Ms. Buchwald will discuss best practices for both direct dealings with the media (i.e., responding to media inquiries, speaking with reporters, and communicating your office’s message) and indirect dealings with the media (i.e., social media, sending out reports, and more.) In addition, Ms. Buchwald will outline some steps that can be taken in advance to prepare for the inevitable critical incident.

We know that successfully navigating relationships with the media is a topic that every oversight agency will confront at some point in time. In this era of public accountability and transparency, knowing how to best interact with a few trusted members of the media can be immensely useful. More specifically, having established media relationships and carrying out your office’s media plan can be critical to how your office is perceived by the community and can impact the very reputation of the office itself.

Ultimately, the best chance you have as an office to be accurately and fairly represented in the news is to have some influence over how the news is written and broadcast, and how the work that you do will be communicated and represented. Contact with the media will enable that to occur such that your office and the Department you oversee are covered in the most balanced manner possible. RSVP to learn more.

*Those who particiate in the webinar will be able to apply .75 hours towards their initial CPO certification or renewal. For verification purposes, and in order to receive CPO credit for this event, you must be registered for the event as an individual. For more information on the CPO program, please visit http://www.nacole.org/cpo_credential_program