Transparency and Accountability
Willie Wolf M.P.A
Training and consultation to help your organization go from good to great
With the push for police reform and making systemic change against racism two issues have become front and center. One is on transparency as it relates to the police department. One of the reasons there have not been major change with wbrutality is because we didn't really know what was going on. Reports were not shared and therefore some of the leadership would only provide information on a need to know basis. When your policy is CYA then you do everything you can to keep others in the dark. This also happens in Tribal government and you need to take steps to be as transparent as possible. More and more Tribes are having their Tribal Council meetings broadcast on facebook and you tube now which is a good thing. Also, keep information open to the public except when is is legally required not to do so. And management needs to make sure they don't have any hidden agendas with their staff. The more transparent you are the more credibility you will gain.
Another issue that is essential is to hold your staff accountable. There have only been 5 police officers in the entire country over the last 10 years who have been prosecuted for killing a citizen without cause. And only a very small number of policemen have faced disciplinary charges for an untold number of excessive force violations. When you do not hold staff accountable they feel they can no do wrong. It also causes major morale issues with the other staff when they see some of their fellow employees are not held accountable. And this needs to be done in real time so a staff member knows they will face immediate consequences if they are doing any kind of behavior that is a violation of the policies and procedures that is unethical or criminal in nature. When the expectations are clear with your staff and they know they will be held to a higher standard they will be far less likely to cross those lines.
For more information on this topic is is covered in a training which is called Creating a Healthy Organization. Feel free to go to www.redroadleadership.com for more details for an online training which covers the topics of transparency and accountability and so many other areas that will help you to develop a far healthier organization.