Ohio creates police-community program

VW independent/submitted information

COLUMBUS — As part of Ohio’s effort to strengthen relations between police and the communities they serve, the state is partnering with a Columbus-based public relations and marketing firm to develop a multi-pronged outreach and education campaign.

Public Relations firm Warhol & WALL ST. will begin working with the state’s 12-member Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board on materials for an education and outreach campaign that will begin this spring.

“The overreaching goal of this outreach and education campaign is to create better understanding between communities and law enforcement,” said Ohio Department of Public Safety Director John Born, who serves as co-chair of the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board. “This will ultimately assist in improving this important relationship.”

Earlier this year, Governor John Kasich created the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board to oversee implementation of recommendations from a task force the governor created to explore best community policing practices, law enforcement training, and standards for law enforcement interaction with the community. As a result, the group developed for the first time in Ohio history — statewide standards to help guide Ohio law enforcement agencies.

The overall scope of the public awareness campaign includes:

• Educating law enforcement on how to better interact with the community they serve by focusing on appropriate and effective programming especially those programs that promote positive educational interactions between law enforcement and youth in the community;
• Educating the general public on strategies to improve community-police relations including how to appropriately interact with law enforcement and how law enforcement should appropriately interact with the public; and
• Educating the community about the duties of law enforcement and the nature of their responsibilities in order to raise citizen’s awareness and understanding of law enforcement’s obligation to protect and strengthen the vital partnership between the community and law enforcement.

Warhol & WALL ST. was selected following a competitive Request for Proposal (RFP) process managed by the Ohio Department of Administrative Services.