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LAPD Moves Toward Transparency — Where Are You?

Generally, everyone loves transparency, for everyone except themselves.

This story about the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) becoming a leader in sharing officer body camera footage shows just how far they have come in the years since the Rodney King incident, when officers were video-taped beating him. 

This has been a long time coming for the department, likely in no small part due to their experiences with the taping of the Rodney King beating by officers. We may look at this and say, "Hey, this is great. They should be commended for moving toward being more transparent." My question is, "What are you doing to be more transparent in your emergency management line of work?"

Are you inviting the media into your after-action briefings following an exercise? Do you put your after-action reports online? Are they "edited" in any way to not tell all the nitty-gritty of what went right and what went wrong, and what needs fixing? 

The LAPD is working to establish trust with the citizens they serve. What are you doing to do the same?

Eric Holdeman is a contributing writer for Emergency Management magazine and is the former director of the King County, Wash., Office of Emergency Management.
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