Communicating through a pandemic: What one police agency has learned so far

Katherine Severson and Emma Poole
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Katherine Severson: Calgary Police Service, Canada
Emma Poole: Public Information Officer at COVID-19 Incident Management Team, Calgary Police Service, Canada

Journal of Business Continuity & Emergency Planning, 2021, vol. 14, issue 3, 275-287

Abstract: As the world continues to be gripped by the COVID-19 pandemic, emergency response agencies are faced with the dual roles of protecting their employees while also protecting the public. In order to safely provide service to the community it serves, the Calgary Police Service (CPS) has sought to protect the health of its employees by changing processes, adopting new safety procedures and providing additional equipment. Concurrent with this, it has faced the challenge of how to communicate new, system-wide changes effectively and quickly during a period of unprecedented information overload, social uncertainly and scientific complexity. This paper shares lessons learned from months of using strategic communication to meet operational objectives. It draws on case studies from the incident management team to highlight specific challenges and successes in trying to reach 3,000 employees and the public at large, while trying to keep pace with the constantly changing threat of COVID-19.

Keywords: communication; pandemic; planning; emergency management; police; social media (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: M1 M10 M12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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