In my 30 years of law enforcement, I have seen that many police departments operated in almost complete secrecy. This secrecy is one of tradition and lack of trust. Because of this, the community knew very little about what a department did except in cases which involved a terrible tragedy or something highly unusual.

In my 30 years of law enforcement, I have seen that many police departments operated in almost complete secrecy. This secrecy is one of tradition and lack of trust. Because of this, the community knew very little about what a department did except in cases which involved a terrible tragedy or something highly unusual.

The police culture is a combination of things. Those things being mistrust of the media, the desire to keep the public in the dark, and a cynical attitude perpetuated by a failure of the system to back the police. Times are now changing, as is the thought process of police administrators. The value of community engagement and partnerships is now clearly evident. We are now seeing lines of communication opened up like never before. With the advent of citizen’s police academies, newsletters, and the dissemination of information via private social media networks such as nextdoor.com, the police are much more open to the sharing of information than ever before.

Transparency is essential to be legitimate and this is because law enforcement is scrutinized like no other profession. It is under the microscope every day and every decision made is second-guessed. The images portrayed by the media on nightly television broadcasts show mistakes and unethical behavior displayed by a very small proportion of the police, but the police profession is one that is painted with a broad brush contributing to the distrust of the police by many communities.

Of course, the police cannot be transparent in all that they do, as there is information, investigations and other activities that must remain confidential. Transparency should never involve divulging sensitive information, but it is meant to empower the citizens of every community with information they appreciate and understand.

Transparency is accomplished in various ways, one of which is that the police department should have a website that allows the public to access information about the department and other relevant information that someone may have a question about. A department’s website should also provide material that is clear and easily understood. This has proven to be an essential and very effective way of providing that high level of transparency that citizens demand.

Social media has provided the police with numerous avenues to be transparent. Sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Nextdoor have allowed local police to constantly feed information to its constituency. Things such as crime tips, unusual incidents, accidents, unusual crimes and other important issues in a community give police a hotline to the public.

These media outlets also allow an administrator to shape the view of his/her department by continually showing the department’s level of commitment to the citizenry. Giving positive insight to the department through outreach programs, community policing initiatives combined with accomplishments of the department leave a lasting impression. These good feelings toward the police department should lead to clear lines of communication, legitimacy and public trust.

George McNeil is the Somerset police chief.