Don’t Let the Loudest Voices Own Your Story
What one police agency in transition reminded us about public safety communication
I recently began working with a police agency that is currently in transition. That type of work is not new for Clear Career Professionals. When an organization is going through change, there are usually operational issues, leadership challenges, communication gaps, and cultural concerns that need attention.
I expected some of that.
What I did not expect was for one of the most pressing issues, according to police command staff and administrative staff, to be Facebook.
The department’s social media page had become a source of frustration. Negative comments were affecting morale. Some members of the department wanted to turn off comments altogether. Others questioned why the department even had a Facebook page in the first place.
The city was aware of the issue too. From the department’s perspective, Facebook felt like a problem. From the city’s perspective, public communication still mattered, and turning off comments was not the direction they wanted to go.
That is a difficult place to be: two important stakeholders, both with valid concerns, standing on opposite sides of an issue that was clearly affecting the organization.
But once it became clear that retreating from Facebook was not the path forward, the conversation had to change.
If we could not pull back, we needed to lean in.
The Answer Was Not Less Communication
When a public safety agency is taking hits online, the instinct to pull back is understandable.
Nobody enjoys seeing officers criticized unfairly. Nobody enjoys watching a handful of loud voices dominate the comment section. Nobody wants employees who are already doing a difficult job to feel like the organization’s own communication platform is being used against them.
But silence creates a vacuum.
When a department only posts when it has to, the story of the organization can quickly become shaped by the same few people who are angry enough, bored enough, or motivated enough to comment on everything.
That does not mean criticism should be ignored. It does not mean public agencies should pretend every comment is positive. It does mean the loudest voices are not always the most accurate reflection of the community.
The department did not need to escape social media.
It needed to reclaim the story it was already living every day.
Showing the Work Already Being Done
We began talking with the command staff about a different approach.
Post more.
Show the accomplishments.
Highlight the K9.
Brag about the recruits.
Show the technology being used.
Recognize officers and staff.
Inform the public when something impacts the community.
Humanize the badge without making the work look less professional.
The officers trusted the process, and we started taking pictures of them around town. We posted about academy cadets. We showed awards presented to police personnel at a council meeting. We provided an update about a major road closure caused by an outside agency’s pursuit that our agency was not involved in. The K9 was featured several times, because of course he was.
And almost immediately, the tone began to shift.
Residents welcomed the academy cadets. People congratulated the officers and staff recognized at the council meeting. Community members commented about what a good boy the K9 was.
For the record, he is.
Were there still a couple of negative comments? Sure.
That is social media.
But the ratio changed dramatically. The overwhelming majority of the engagement was positive. The command staff could breathe a little easier. The social media coordinator, who had previously been limited to posting only when absolutely necessary, became excited about the opportunity to tell the department’s story and already had more ideas.
The city saw progress. The department saw relief. Turning off comments was no longer the focus of the conversation.
Social Media Affects Internal Morale
One of the biggest mistakes public agencies can make is treating social media as something that only exists outside the organization.
It does not.
Employees see the comments. Officers see the criticism. Staff members feel the tone. Command staff hears about it. City leadership hears about it. Over time, a page that was intended to communicate with the public can start to affect morale inside the organization.
That is why social media strategy is not just a communications issue. It is a leadership issue.
When an agency allows its page to become a place where only negative stories, required notices, and complaint-driven conversations live, employees begin to associate the platform with frustration. When the same page starts showing service, recognition, personality, professionalism, and community connection, employees begin to see something different.
They see the public responding to the good work they are already doing.
That matters.
A simple post will not fix every issue in an organization. It will not erase every critic. It will not replace strong leadership, good policy, training, accountability, or service.
But it can remind the community, and the employees, that the department is made up of real people doing real work for real neighbors.
Neighbors Helping Neighbors
My prior experience as a police chief had already proven to me the value of an effective social media strategy. But conversations with Sam Toles and his work through CiviSocial have helped sharpen the way I think about public sector communication.
When Sam joined The Clear Voice in Episode 58, he talked about the importance of showing “neighbors helping neighbors.” That phrase captures something many public agencies forget.
Residents do not only need to see press releases. They do not only need emergency notices. They do not only need polished graphics, formal announcements, or legal language.
They need reminders that the people serving them are part of the community too.
The officer helping at an event.
The K9 visiting with residents.
The recruit starting a career in public service.
The dispatcher, records staff member, public works employee, firefighter, code officer, librarian, or parks worker doing the quiet work that keeps a community functioning.
Those are not distractions from the mission.
They are the mission.
The STPs Should Not Control the Narrative
Sam also talks about the challenge of the STPs: the same two, ten, or twenty people who can make it feel like the entire community is against the organization.
Every city has some version of this. Every department has seen it. A small group of frequent commenters can create a distorted picture of public opinion, especially when the organization is not consistently telling its own story.
The solution is not to argue with every critic.
The solution is to make sure the broader community has something better to engage with.
A department that only posts when something goes wrong should not be surprised when the comments feel negative. A department that consistently shows service, people, accomplishments, information, and community connection gives residents more reasons to participate in a different kind of conversation.
The critics may still show up.
But they do not have to own the page.
Public Agencies Do Not Need to Become Influencers
This is not about chasing trends. It is not about turning police departments, city halls, or local government agencies into entertainment brands.
Public agencies do not need to become influencers.
They do need to communicate like real people serving real communities.
That means being consistent. It means being professional without being sterile. It means being human without being careless. It means understanding that communication is not something extra added to the work.
Communication is how the public sees the work.
For public safety agencies in particular, that matters. Trust is not built only during the crisis. It is built in the ordinary moments long before the crisis arrives.
The photo with the K9 matters.
The post welcoming cadets matters.
The recognition at council matters.
The road closure update matters.
The simple reminder that officers are out in the community, serving people, doing the work, and trying to make the city better matters.
Reclaiming the Story
The lesson from this agency was not complicated, but it was important.
The answer to negative engagement is not always less communication. Sometimes the answer is better, more human communication.
If a public agency is only using social media when it is forced to, it should not be surprised when the platform feels like a burden. But when an agency becomes intentional about showing the people, purpose, and service behind the work, the tone can change.
Not perfectly.
Not permanently.
Not without continued effort.
But enough to remind everyone that the loudest voices are not always the whole story.
And enough to show that public agencies still have the ability to tell their own.
Clear Career Professionals works with local governments and public safety agencies during moments of transition, recruitment, and organizational change. Again and again, we are reminded that leadership is not only about solving internal problems. It is also about helping organizations communicate who they are, what they value, and why their work matters.
Sam Toles and CiviSocial have been pushing local governments to think differently about social media, and Episode 58 of The Clear Voice is a great place to continue that conversation.
Because the goal is not to win Facebook.
The goal is to build trust.
And sometimes, that starts by showing neighbors helping neighbors.
Resources
The Clear Voice Episode 58 with Sam Toles:
https://clearcareerpro.com/clear-news/stop-the-social-media-insanity-with-sam-toles
The Clear Voice episode page:
https://clearcareerpro.com/the-clear-voice
CiviSocial website:
https://civisocial.com
Sam’s LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/samtoles1
James Groom LinkedIn:
