The explosive events in Ferguson have been fraught with public relations and crisis management gaffes that have inflamed the situation and made the perception of justice much harder to obtain.
While the issues boiling over in the suburban St. Louis community are complex and filled with historic atrocities, this article is only focused on the very basics of managing such situations from a public relations and crisis management standpoint.
During the initial hours after the shooting of Michael Brown, information began flowing through social media and news channels alike creating the narrative of “an unarmed black male shot by a white officer.” As soon as the leaders in Ferguson saw these headlines, they should have begun to implement a crisis management plan. Obviously, they didn’t have one, which should serve as a reminder to all organizations, big or small, that they should have a crisis management plan to deal with these situations. The last thing you want to do is just react.
A crisis management plan can be as important as a strategic business plan or a budget. A good crisis management plan doesn’t just address natural disasters but, instead, covers any type of emergency situation. Lives could be at stake and costs could skyrocket. It is costing St. Louis County as much as $100,000 per day for law enforcement to keep some semblance of peace in Ferguson.
Below are five steps leaders in Ferguson could have taken to help prevent or alleviate some of the outrage and violence.
1. Determine who has the legal authority to make decisions. The mayor of Ferguson is quoted as saying he had no idea who was in charge, and after days of unrest, the governor and state Highway Patrol finally took control of the situation only to be waylaid by a surprise press conference from the Ferguson Police chief. This caused more chaos by releasing a then seemingly unrelated robbery video, inflaming the situation. With local, state and federal authorities on the scene, and little coordination among the entities, the situation has looked chaotic from the start.
2. Set up a system to ensure the release of reliable information. Leaders need to be transparent but mindful of the information they are releasing and how it is conveyed. It is important to keep the public updated as much as possible without harming any related investigations. A lack of information creates a void that rumors and conjecture fill with the possibility of going viral in an instant. This event unfolded on Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms at the speed of a tweet, with people such as St. Louis Alderman Antonio French becoming the de facto source of information for national media outlets.
3. Provide information to stakeholders early and often. Make sure anyone speaking to the press is well versed, rehearsed and mindful of the audience. Things can go badly in a hurry when a spokesperson is ill-prepared to handle constant scrutiny from the press. It took the Ferguson Police chief several disastrous press conferences to realize this fact before he stepped out of the way. During the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, BP’s CEO was quoted as saying he “wanted his life back,” showing how out of touch he was with the situation and demonstrating a lack of clear understanding of his audience.
4. Monitor social media along with traditional forms of media. Seems simple, but Gov. Jay Nixon had his “Katrina moment” four days after the riots began. He was tweeting about a Springfield school board resolution and attending events at the State Fair, while at that exact moment rioters were clashing with police. If his staff had been monitoring the situation in a more thorough manner, they would have been able to avoid this embarrassment that might threaten any of his national political aspirations.
5. Use common sense, not brute force. Reporters were arrested. Pictures were posted side by side with Israeli Army soldiers in the Gaza conflict next to Ferguson officers clashing with rioters, showing little difference in the military gear and tactics used. Everyone wants to keep officers safe, but armored personnel carriers shouldn’t be rolling down the streets of an American city during peacetime.
The events in Ferguson have been a case study in what not to do for anyone concerned with public relations and crisis management. Mistakes have been and are still being made. The decision by the governor not to remove the prosecutor – despite a petition signed by 70,000 people – sets up a scenario that will make it almost impossible for everyone to feel justice can be served. If the officer is cleared of wrongdoing, you can expect widespread protests that could return the violence.
While not everything can be fixed with good crisis management planning, it’s certainly a better approach than what we’ve seen happen in Ferguson.
Miles Ross is owner of Veritas Public Relations, which specializes in political campaigns, legislative initiatives and crisis and media relations. He can be reached at miles@veritaspublicrelations.com.[[In-content Ad]]
