Not long ago, the idea of a police brand didn’t exist, but with the advent of “defund” movements, the proliferation of social media, and negative perceptions of policing as a career among young people, it has become increasingly important for departments to control and strategically shape their image.

If you don’t define who you are, someone else will do it for you.

There are people who roll their eyes at the concept of a police brand, feeling – rightly or wrongly – that agencies shouldn’t have to market themselves. But realistically, those days are gone. Applicants aren’t knocking down the doors for jobs anymore, budgets are constantly under threat, and the potential for a negative review is just one viral video away.

Once, the importance of the job spoke for itself, but now, police departments need to consistently communicate their value to funders, partners, and the community they serve. They need to build a reserve of trust and goodwill that offers context, no matter where – or how – their agency is represented. And they need to establish an ongoing reputation as a good employer.

An agency with a brand mindset develops the marketing, communication, and relationship-building strategies that will help them achieve these goals. It intentionally develops the brand stories, visuals, messaging, and culture that will increase community and employee engagement, help them connect and build trust with new audiences, and compete in the hiring market.

**Your brand is the experience you offer people everywhere they engage with you.**

A police department’s brand isn’t its logo, core values, or vehicle graphics – it’s bigger than that. It’s the experience your organization offers the public, your employees, partners, and potential recruits, everywhere they engage with you: on the street, at the station, on your website, in your annual report, or during your hiring process.
Your brand expresses who you are, what you stand for, and what is unique about you. Perhaps most importantly, it represents a promise to your community and your employees. It’s more than a marketing tool, it’s a roadmap for decision-making.
It defines who you are – and who you are not.

Strong brands are strategic and well-defined

When you think about your brand as the experience your organization offers, you quickly realize that you already have a brand – whether you intentionally built it, or not.

To make that brand strategic and bring it under your control, you need to put all of the elements in place to ensure that the experience you offer consistently aligns with the values and approach you want to be known for. An effective police brand sets goals for how it will look, sound, and act both internally and externally – from your visuals, to your messaging, to your culture.

This means that it’s not enough to say, for example, that your brand is community-focused. You have to define what that means, describe what it looks like in action, and then act on it. When everyone in your organization knows what your brand values look like in action, they have a blueprint for going forward and a way of measuring your success.

Strong brands create engagement

A successful police brand makes a meaningful promise to the community it serves, and communicates a sense of mission and purpose to sworn and civilian employees. When that promise is felt on an emotional level, it becomes a rallying point for initiatives, problem-solving and engagement.

All of the stakeholders in your brand should have input in the early stages of your brand’s development: through community surveys, partner feedback, interviews of sworn and civilian staff, and leadership input. The feedback will show you where the gaps and opportunities are, and what is needed to develop a brand that will fully engage your target audiences.

Strategic brands pay off operationally.

Externally, a strong, positive brand helps a department maintain community trust and cooperation even when police organizations, in general, receive unfavourable public feedback or news coverage. It attracts partners, strengthens community engagement, and establishes a reserve of goodwill to draw on, if necessary.

Internally, it can lay the foundation for a culture in which personnel feel supported, valued, heard and respected – leading to stronger teams, cross-departmental innovation and relationship-building, and a reputation as an excellent employer.

Strong brands build trust.

A well-built brand has all of the elements in place to ensure that your audiences’ experience is consistent – from how staff respond to inquiries at the front desk, to how you appear at events, to an interaction at a traffic stop.

When your brand looks, sounds, and acts the same everywhere it appears, it builds trust and confidence in your dependability and professionalism. Trust, in turn, creates strong relationships and loyalty, and leads to positive word-of-mouth promotion.

Strong brands attract and retain skilled employees.

A strong employer brand is a crucial component of your overall brand. It provides ongoing proof that you offer a positive internal culture, and have programs, solutions, and training in place that address current issues in policing. Police agencies tend to focus on external brand-building with the community they serve, but your relationship with the community is only half the picture for potential recruits.

Strong brands are instantly recognizable.

Brand recognition is critical for police agencies. When your brand elements are used in the same way every time, your identity – and the authority and credibility it conveys – is instantly recognizable: on a press release, on an event tent, and on patrol.

The strongest brands are “lived”.

The most effective brands are “lived” by an organization. They are unique and authentic, and their authenticity is rooted in accountability.

If leadership doesn’t “live” the brand, no one else will. If the brand isn’t meaningful to employees, they’ll ignore it. If the community sees you saying one thing in a press release and acting differently on the street, your brand will become a focal point for dissent, rather than a rallying point for engagement.

A well-built police brand can help you achieve your goals.

Thoughtful and consistent brand development can do for a police agency exactly what it does for businesses and other non-profit organizations: inspire loyalty, increase engagement, motivate funders, and attract employees and partners.

The key is to build a strong brand that is strategic, authentic, inclusive and engaging – one that offers a meaningful promise to your community and employees – and then, to walk your talk.