CS360 In The Field
*Locations are approximate
Since 2017, the CS360 team has worked with approximately 20 agencies across the U.S. on various implementations of CS360. Each agency brought their own unique strengths and challenges that impacted the degree to which CS360 was successful in their agency. Despite each agencies individual circumstances, key themes have emerged from these sites and the project team has learned valuable lessons to share with the field.
Use the table below to learn about the key themes that emerged from the the CS360 sites. Click the "Learn More" button to get additional information about how CS360 was used to address the issues and get real lessons learned about the successes and challenges that these CS360 sites faced. For additional information about these sites, contact us.
Key Themes from CS360 Sites
Engaging community members in and governmental stakeholders is essential to law enforcement’s efforts to promote the co-production of public safety. CS360 encourages police departments to invest time in developing relationships with their communities to define shared public safety priorities, success metrics, and strategies to institutionalize feedback loops to drive progress.
Key Takeaways:
Community engagement in problem-solving requires patience, thoughtful project management, and commitment to the process of outreach to many different community groups.
Members who have diverse perspectives regarding public safety are essential to effective collaboration.
Police departments that leverage their capacity to prioritize CS360 implementation and see community engagement as a key objective of the model can successfully collaborate with community partners to co-produce public safety in a meaningful way.
Data is the foundation of problem identification, actionable analysis, resource deployment, CompStat efforts, and productive police and community engagement. CS360 is unique in its approach because it immediately prioritizes police-community engagement as part of the process.
Key Takeaways:
Traditional CompStat and crime analysis have long been viewed as an internal-only process, largely shielded from public view. CS360 incorporates community members’ and external stakeholders’ data about public safety priorities within their neighborhoods.
CS360 calls for police to not just report out to community members but also to take in the insight and awareness stakeholders bring to the effort.
Community members and organizations can also be viewed as additional agency resources for data.
For any effort in a law enforcement agency to be successful, there needs to be buy-in from agency personnel and leadership. Identifying someone who is intentional, passionate, embraces change, and can make a substantial and measurable impact on the effort can profoundly impact the project’s success by taking on the role of an internal champion. CS360 is a problem-solving model that provides agency leaders with ways to integrate community needs and feedback into the department’s traditional data-driven crime monitoring process.
Key Takeaways:
Department commitment and support are crucial for the successful implementation of any effort in a police department. That commitment and support must be clearly communicated to gain buy-in from the department and build momentum for the work to be done. Internal champions can be an essential piece of this process.
Stressing the importance of a project both publicly and internally is essential for police executives implementing new initiatives. This can be done by following up with staff on measurable goals and posting to social media periodically to provide updates on the project's accomplishments.
An internal champion must have the authority or support from department leadership to implement and drive an effort successfully.
Today’s communities demand increased transparency and engagement from their police department. The social media age has created an environment where departments must keep up with new technologies and learn how to use them effectively. Tools such as CS360 allow community members to participate in identifying problems and implementing solutions alongside the police department. Implementing CS360 is only part of the process. Agencies must convey the information and work being done with the community to the rest of the general public that may not be actively participating in the process.
Key Takeaways:
Communicating in the age of social media is not an easy task. However, avoiding it altogether is no longer an option. As the public’s expectations for outreach and updates grow, the need for the department to enhance communications is more important than ever.
Effective communication with the community is essential in any size agency. For larger jurisdictions, efforts should be made to identify different communities that should receive tailored outreach and messaging.
Agencies can create a scalable strategy by taking small steps such as selecting someone to manage social media accounts, creating simple posts, and identifying key messages.
Departments should not consider their work completed until they update their community about their activities.
Becoming a new executive leader in a law enforcement agency can be daunting. That new leader, whether a seasoned leader from another agency or a first-time executive, will have to learn and embrace the history and culture of the new community while keeping abreast of the current climate of policing, the internal culture of the agency, and the changing needs of the community they are sworn to serve. Effective tools and strategies can be vital to help transition to this new role.
Key Takeaways:
A new executive leader will need to understand the past and current state of the department and the community it serves.
The new leader will need to engage with department personnel and external stakeholders in a constructive way that will aid in identifying agency priorities.
It is essential to recognize that achieving agency priorities cannot be done in isolation from the community but can only be accomplished through dedicated and trusted community partnerships.
The CS360 process can assist with the CS360 scanning process for new leadership through surveys and interviews of department personnel and external stakeholders.
