As leaders, you have the power to drive meaningful change and ensure that every member of your community feels valued, seen and supported. To assist you in this mission, at Creative Safety Solutions, we have compiled a set of actionable strategies based on decades of experience in the law enforcement consulting field.
Standardize Services for Consistent Support: Find a way to standardize support services in your regions; By establishing consistent protocols and resources, you can ensure that vulnerable populations receive access to the assistance they need with seamless integration and teamwork.
ACTION: Establish/Expand regional vulnerable population taskforces.
Update Website Accessibility: Your department's website serves as a gateway to vital information. Make sure it is regularly updated with relevant resources and designed with accessibility in mind. Clear formatting and language are essential for ensuring that everyone can easily access critical information.
ACTION: Update/Reformat your website layout where all community information is available in one tab/printable resources pamphlet.
Add Emergency “Exits”: Domestic violence situations require swift and discreet intervention. Consider adding emergency click-off buttons to your website's domestic violence resource page(s). This simple addition can make a world of difference for individuals in distress, but hesitant to search for services and/or information for fear of being discovered by their abuser.
ACTION: Work with your IT team to see what creative ways your resource page can be hidden in a search & to add immediate click-off/re-direct buttons.
Empower Your Officers: Provide them with the resources and training they need to manage repetitive call types effectively. Empowered officers can better address community needs with compassion and efficiency when they are provided quality resources and an action-plan ahead of time.
ACTION: Get creative in how/when/where you train your officers on vulnerable populations; now is the time to think-outside-the-box. Work with your dispatchers to keep crisis resources updated and easily accessible when needed. Have you considered formatting a double-sided laminated badge card with crisis resources to provide all your officers? (One of the best tips we will provide.)
Diversify Grant Funding and Foster Collaboration: Do not limit your department to traditional grant sources and uses.
ACTION: The sky’s the limit with grant funding. Do you need a department social worker? Make your case to those professional organizations, college’s/universities, foundations, sports teams, healthcare organizations, insurance providers, etc.
Leverage Census Data for Informed Action: Knowledge is power. Utilize census data to identify and analyze vulnerable population numbers in your community; know them like the back-of-your -hand. This data-driven approach will enable you to tailor your strategies to specific needs and demographics effectively.
ACTION: Digest the U.S. Census as it relates to your communities and gear programing accordingly.
At Creative Safety Solutions this is just the start of our suggestions; We hope to work with your department soon in “Getting Creative In Your Solutions.”