Set the tone and shape the culture.  

Ensure community trust is an essential aspect of your agency’s mission. Foster a work environment that demonstrates its values throughout its operations and in its engagement with the community.  Continuously strive to improve relations between police professionals and the communities they serve. 

Develop a community engagement strategy.  

Develop and implement a strategy that will encourage police professionals to engage and develop alliances and partnerships with the community.  

Develop and implement supportive community-focused policies.  

Involve community voices in the development of policies that promote fair, just, and ethical community-focused policing--including policies addressing policing practices, the use of force, community engagement, accountability, and procedural justice. 

Train staff.  

Support opportunities for ongoing education and professional development, including training in community policing, racial reconciliation, conflict management, de-escalation techniques, communication, leadership, and awareness of implicit bias. 

Prioritize accountability and reconciliation.  

Hold police personnel accountable for their actions. This includes reinforcing and rewarding a commitment to community trust and engagement, innovative solutions, and outstanding service in addition to enforcing disciplinary actions and ensuring that misconduct is addressed appropriately and with transparency. When harm is done, engage the community in reconciliation to address the harm. 

Evaluate and improve practices.  

Continuously evaluate the effectiveness of agency policies and practices, receive feedback, and use findings to make improvements to the policy and procedures manual, ensuring that they reflect best practices and meet the evolving needs of the community.