PR tips from a police press office
PR tips from a police press office that apply anywhere
PR and communications in a police press office can be quite frantic.
Often, you find yourself dealing with multiple incidents all at once – but there’s lots of other work too.
Campaigns.
Building relationships with communities.
Sharing information so that individuals and communities know what’s expected of them.
I learned a lot about calm, clear, transparent communication from my time working in a police press office.
PR tips from a police press office you can use now
Here are 5 PR tips from police communications that can work well for any organisation communicating with a wide community audience.
1. Plan ahead for crises
Police comms teams deal with urgent, changing situations every day.
The key to staying calm under pressure is planning for the worst possible situation, and practicing every part of that crisis plan ahead of time.
When any crisis hits, you run through a plan that you’re already familiar with. That familiarity takes away the panic, and leaves you calmly following a tried and tested process.
Governments do this, gathering at least twice a year to practice for the worst possible scenario. I was the comms lead on this practice for UK Government a couple of years ago.
(For the government, the scenario they usually plan for is a complete shut down of energy and communications UK-wide – so I’ve personally led comms for that scenario.)
2. Build trust through honesty and transparency
Factual accuracy, honesty, and transparency comes first – but speed is important too.
If you don’t have all the facts yet, say so, and give the facts you do have, upfront and preferably without being asked.
If you allow a zero-communication vacuum to form, it will be filled by speculation.
So any time you find yourself in a crisis or challenging situation, issue a short, honest initial statement clarifying the facts known to date, and say clearly when you’ll update it.
Then update according to schedule, even if you just say ‘still no further info’.
Build trust and authority through honesty.
3. Never forget your humanity
Behind every headline are people who are scared, grieving, worried, or angry.
Always, always remember that these are human beings with genuine, well-founded concerns whose families and wellbeing may be under threat.
Empathy strengthens your message.
Think about the human impact of your messages, and coach spokespeople to communicate with warmth and clarity.
4. Decisions aren’t always black and white
Sticking rigidly to processes can damage trust.
While best practice is definitely to plan everything in advance and follow the guidelines you’ve put in place, sometimes it’s important to be flexible. Live situations demand live decisions.
Ethical decision-making might sometimes mean that you shouldn’t issue that image or update that story which rules/ guidelines/ best practice say you should issue.
Ethical decision-making requires flexibility, and an understanding that grey areas exist too.
5. Make sure everyone speaks with one voice
From front-line staff to spokespeople, everyone needs consistent, clear messages.
Internal comms is as important as external.
One message from top to bottom and across all channels builds clarity and confidence.
PR tips for any community-focused organisation
These lessons apply far beyond policing — they’re about clarity under pressure, empathy when the message isn’t yet clear, and calm leadership in crisis.
Follow those five tips to future-proof your business, build trust, and boost reputation.
And if you need more support to get the message right, I offer tailored advice and consultancy services to make sure your communications are human, appropriate, and minimise risk.