Record Breaking Academy 2022

Trust and confidence was the only show in town for the annual APComm Academy 2022 with 22 wide ranging sessions from police comms and external speakers covering the whole communications spectrum of what works, successes to be proud of and learning from what didn't.

Even before academy got off the ground on Tuesday 15 November APComm was off to a flying start with a free members session on the experiences of people with accessibility needs and best practice in accessible communications.

Day one continued with a focus on getting police internal culture right, as without this trust and confidence will only ever be undermined. Inspiring external speakers included Drew Povey, from Drew Povey Consultancy and Matt Jenkins, from Dream and Leap. Whilst police experiences were shared by Lincolnshire and Hampshire who provided described their journeys in responding to standards and culture issues their forces had faced. Making the most of having the event in person there were lively workshops where attendees could share their own experiences and ideas.

The internal lens of the first day widened to include an external focus for Day two. With interesting experiences from Essex, West Midlands, and Counter Terrorism policing, and from Lancashire OPCC covering a breadth of actions to build trust and confidence.

The afternoon moved onto the experiences of forces who are in, or in the case of Greater Manchester Police have just been moved out of, the HMICFRS Engage (or special measures) process. Communicators were given a Chief Constable's perspective of the communications support they need from Wiltshire CC Kier Pritchard, and then the opportunity to hear the communications experience and advice from GMP, Wiltshire and Staffordshire heads of communication on what is needed when you are in Engage.

The College of Policing ran an interactive session on the revised Code of Ethics, using the collective experience in the room to help shape the development of a new communications plan for it. The day then finished with two complex case studies from Leicestershire and the Met on challenging situations their communications teams had been involved in responding to and their subsequent work to regain public trust and confidence.

Wednesday evening saw the newly reintroduced APComm Awards, providing the opportunity to reflect on the professional excellence of police communicators up and down the country. Winners were:

• The News and Communications Team, Merseyside Police, awarded for Commitment and Excellence in a Crisis following their outstanding work to manage communications around Op Kipling, a terrorist attack at the Liverpool Women’s Hospital, and the murder of a young girl on White Ribbon Day.
• Joanne Holms, Police Scotland, awarded for Commitment, Motivation and Promoting Policing Communications, after successfully leading her team in the development and delivery of Police Scotland’s response to COP26.
• And Police Scotland Corporate Communications, awarded for Strategic Thinking and Promoting Policing Communications for ‘Don’t Be That Guy’, a hugely successful national sexual violence campaign.

The awards culminated in a lifetime recognition award for APComm Secretary, Jacqui Hanson, who will be retiring from policing after an incredible career and over a decade of contribution to APComm.

The final day focused on communications to tackle violence against women and girls and communications to improve our engagement with and communications to young people, with contributions from the NPCC VAWG communications lead, from the College of Policing, from South Wales Police, Counter Terrorism Policing, and the London Mayor's Office Policing and Crime, and two brilliant external sessions from Alex Goat from youth experts Livity and from Mills Banji and Dereck Maruma from TapIn discussing their partnership with West Mids police to build confidence with black communities.

The contributions of police comms were recognised with outgoing Chair Gavin Stevens closing the session, championing why policing and policing comms is so crucial and recognising the significant role of communicators in supporting policing and public safety.