Communicating in Crisis:

Overview

In a crisis, Public Information Officers don’t have the luxury of time. Information moves fast. Fear spreads faster. Good communication strategy can shape public trust, protect your organization’s reputation, and help victims and communities begin to move forward.

This intensive, hands-on workshop gives PIOs practical tools to communicate rapidly, responsibly and credibly when the pressure is on.

Participants will learn how to:

• Build clear, credible key messages
• Put victims’ needs forefront
• Respond with speed without sacrificing accuracy or ethics
• Prepare effective holding statements and crisis communication plans
• Navigate social media and emerging AI challenges
• Conduct effective news conferences
• Monitor and manage information throughout a crisis
• Develop a crisis communications manual tailored to their organization

The workshop culminates in an immersive, three-hour active-shooter tabletop simulation, challenging participants to apply what they’ve learned as a fast-moving crisis unfolds.

Two days. Real-world scenarios. Practical strategies. Better crisis communicators. Because when the unthinkable happens, the public doesn’t just need information. They need information from a source they can trust.

Tuition

Tuition includes all instruction and handouts. Lodging and meals are excluded.

• $575 Non-Member
• $525 ILEA Member

Who Should Attend?

This course is designed for public information officers, as well as personnel in leadership positions, in law enforcement and emergency service agencies.

Schedule and Speaker

Daily 8:30 am to 4:30 pm

About the Speaker

Judy Pal has spent much of her career where policing, leadership, crisis and public trust combine.

With more than 40 years’ experience in communications and management, Judy has served in executive positions with major law enforcement organizations across North America. She was an Assistant Commissioner with the New York City Police Department; Chief of Staff for the Baltimore and Milwaukee Police Departments; and a command staff member overseeing public information for police departments in Atlanta, Savannah and Halifax, Canada. She also served as Director of Operations for FBI-LEEDA.

Throughout her career, Judy has helped law enforcement leaders navigate critical incidents, officer misconduct, controversial use-of-force issues, international scandal, terrorism and other high-profile crises where information moves quickly and public trust is at stake.

Her approach to crisis communication goes well beyond media relations. Judy focuses on communication as a leadership responsibility: providing timely and credible information, keeping victims at the center of the response, and ensuring that executives, operational commanders, PIOs, other departments and elected officials understand their roles.

Judy also addresses the rapidly changing challenges of artificial intelligence, misinformation and disinformation, and what public safety leaders must do to remain a trusted source of information in an increasingly difficult communication environment.

Founder and principal of 10-8 Communications LLC, Judy has trained thousands of law enforcement leaders across North America and internationally including the Major Cities Chiefs Association, Major County Sheriffs, and through FBI Regional Command Colleges across the country. A former broadcast journalist, she is also the lead author of the Department of Justice COPS Office Strategic Communications for Law Enforcement Executives.

Her perspective is grounded in experience on both sides of the camera and inside the executive command boardrooms when the stakes are highest.

TCOLE Credit

Law enforcement personnel attending this course are eligible for fourteen (14) hours of Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer (TCOLE) credit.

Overnight Accommodations

Provided is a map showing the location of our facility and surrounding hotels.  Please note, ILEA & CAIL do not endorse any hotels nor have negotiated rates.

Other Information

Course Cancellation Policy

Occasionally, the Institute for Law Enforcement Administration (ILEA) may be forced to cancel a scheduled program. Whenever possible, the decision to cancel is made at least fourteen days prior to the start of the program, and registered participants are notified once that decision has been made. If the distance to the training site requires that you make airline and/or hotel reservations, please contact ILEA (+1.972.244.3430) to inquire about the status of any program before making travel arrangements. While paid registrations in cancelled courses will be refunded in full, ILEA will not be responsible for monetary loss due to cancellations or changes in airline or hotel reservations.

Eligibility Policy

The Institute for Law Enforcement Administration provides  professional education and technical support to the law enforcement community. 

A registrant in an ILEA program must be a sworn officer; a civilian employee of a law enforcement department; or an employee of a municipal, county or state agency.

Anyone interested in attending an ILEA program who does not meet the above standard requirements will need to request advance approval. Such requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Privacy Policy

We do not sell or rent information to any outside parties. By providing your information, you will receive postal and electronic communications from the Institute for Law Enforcement Administration (ILEA) of The Center for American and International Law (CAIL) in accordance with CAIL's Privacy Policy. If we co-sponsor a program with another organization, information may be shared between the parties. All such co-sponsors will be identified on the event details and registration page. At any point, you can opt-out or unsubscribe by selecting either link at the bottom of each email or call us at 972.244.3400.