What the Commuity Can Do for You

Panelists 

- Reverend C.B. Akins, Community Leader, Lexington, KY 
- Lieutenant Dan Schiele, Sacramento (CA) Police Department 
- Phillip Osborne, Preston-Osborne, Lexington, KY 


The workshop discussed how to engage the 
community in partnership with the police 
department/sheriff’s office in support of 
recruiting efforts. 


What the Commuity Can Do for You

Overview of Presentations 

- Use data to understand your community and its 
changing demographics. Identify and use decision 
makers and opinion influencers. 

- Stages of working with the community: irritation, 
confrontation, cooperation, collaboration, cross-
fertilization 

- Use community leaders to be community recruiters for 
the police department and sponsor officers who will 
later serve their community. 



What the Commuity Can Do for You

Common/Cross-cutting Themes 

- CEO must be front and center engaging the community. 

- Listen to criticism 

- Give the community a say and ownership in
recruitment, selection, and hiring.

- Problems getting diversity (e.g., citizenship rules)

- The CEO may face resistance working with the 
community. Community leaders often face the same 
resistance. 

- Work with community to make the agency the best it 
can be. 



What the Commuity Can Do for You

Innovative and Promising Practices That Emerged

- Understand your community and changing
demographics through data analysis

- Collaborate and think innovatively about how to deal 
with housing, education, quality of life issues potential 
officers face (e.g., work with lenders to get 0% down on 
homes for officers) 

- Sacramento (CA) Police Department: Community 
members as police recruiters 



What the Commuity Can Do for You

Concluding Takeaway Messages / Lessons 

• Understand and be in touch with your community 
• Promote jointly with the agency that … 
– Service is an officer safety issue 
– Having the right people serves a public good