Role of Public Trust in Reducing Abuse

When I became Chief of Police in Minneapolis, our city was in crisis. Violent crime had surged, the Minneapolis Police Department had lost hundreds of officers, while public trust in law enforcement and morale among the cops who remained had plummeted. In Governing magazine, I outline how the MPD is proving that reform and crime reduction are not opposing goals. Through transparency, community engagement, and data-driven strategies, we are working to rebuild trust while tackling serious crime. From precision policing strategies and community-led interventions, we are charting a new path—one that recognizes you can’t have public safety without the public. Minneapolis’ journey is far from over, but the early results are promising. Crime is declining, and confidence in the MPD is improving significantly. We’re starting to rebuild the police force. Other cities grappling with similar challenges can take away a key lesson: meaningful police reform and effective crime prevention must go hand in hand. #PublicSafety #PoliceReform #CommunityPolicing #Leadership #Minneapolis #LawEnforcement

The Psychology of Public Trust: Why Public Bodies Must Go Beyond Compliance Public trust is the lifeblood of local government and other government agencies. It's the currency we trade in. Without it, the best-laid plans stall, and progress dies on the vine. With it, communities champion reform, and positive change outlives any election cycle. We're often trained to chase five-star audit reports and tick every compliance box. But our communities aren't scoring us on a checklist. They judge us on something far more human: intent, empathy, and the feeling of being genuinely heard. Here’s the hard truth: Compliance isn't confidence. The Bell, California scandal is the ultimate cautionary tale. Despite existing audits, officials misappropriated millions, proving that compliance systems alone can create a dangerous illusion of accountability. The lesson? Real trust is forged in the open. The Three Pillars of Unshakeable Trust Organisational psychology shows that trust isn't a static KPI; it’s a dynamic, relational contract. For local councils, it rests on three pillars: 🔎 Radical Transparency: Not data dumps, but the "why" behind tough decisions. It's explaining the trade-offs, not just the outcomes. ⚖️ Genuine Accountability: Owning mistakes, not burying them. It's about visible action, not just quiet apologies. 🤝 Meaningful Participation: Giving the community a real seat at the table, not just a box to tick in a consultation report. These are the signals residents look for. This is how they decide: "Is my council on my side?" Four Strategic Shifts to Build Trust 👉 Move from Informing to Involving. Stop broadcasting at your community and start a genuine dialogue with them. Ask, listen, and show you've heard. 👉Champion Internal Psychological Safety. When your staff feel safe to challenge ideas and admit errors, that courage and honesty becomes visible to the public. Trust starts from the inside out. 👉Marry Fiscal Rigour with Cultural Renewal. A healthy budget is critical, but a toxic or indifferent culture will eventually sink the ship. Credibility requires both. 👉Treat Trust as an Asset to Be Managed Daily. Trust is never "banked." It's earned in every phone call, every council meeting, and every difficult conversation. The Ultimate Imperative Trust cannot be legislated. It isn’t achieved when an audit is passed. The council in Bell, CA, eventually rebuilt its community's faith, but the scars remain. Prevention is always less costly than the cure. The ultimate strategic shift is this: Stop seeing trust as a compliance checklist. Start nurturing it as a living ecosystem. That’s how we build public institutions our communities don’t just accept, but actively believe in. #LocalGovernment #PublicTrust #CommunityEngagement #Leadership #LocalGov #Governance #PublicSector #OrganisationalPsychology

In a post-conflict Syria, establishing an interim government hinges on trust. This trust can only be built through transparency and accountability. Transparency means making government actions and finances open to the public, fighting corruption, and showing that power is used for the people's benefit. Accountability involves creating systems to hold officials responsible for their decisions and actions, which is vital for preventing abuse of power. The Role of Institutions To ensure the interim government's actions match its promises, institutions that represent the people must play a key role. • Unions and Professional Associations can advocate for fair labor practices and ensure economic recovery benefits all workers, not just a few. • Parliament must serve as a genuine forum for oversight, scrutinizing government policies and preventing abuses of power. • Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) can act as watchdogs, monitoring government activities, documenting abuses, and advocating for justice and human rights. Lessons from Post-War Economies Syria can learn from the experiences of other countries. • Bosnia and Herzegovina showed that without strong, transparent anti-corruption bodies, international aid can be mismanaged. • East Timor demonstrated how a strong civil society can be critical in holding a new government accountable and advocating for transitional justice. • Iraq highlighted the danger of weak state institutions, where corruption and a lack of accountability can undermine stability, despite significant financial investment. By adopting these principles and empowering these institutions, the interim government can begin to rebuild trust and lay the groundwork for a stable and prosperous future for Syria.

This is how we maintain the precious trust that Singaporeans have in the Government. When the Covid-19 pandemic broke, the authorities introduced the TraceTogether and SafeEntry digital systems. During the acute phase of the pandemic, these were necessary for our contact tracing efforts and the implementation of community safe management measures. However, there were concerns over Government surveillance, the honeypot risks for cyber-attacks due to the sensitive nature and large volume of personal data collected, and misuse or abuse of personal data for purposes unconnected to pandemic control efforts. The third prong of risks identified above led to the Government promulgating specific legislation in 2021 to specify and limit the police's access to and use of TraceTogether data to only seven categories of serious crimes, including murder and terrorism. As the threat of a severe Covid-19 outbreak abates, it is only right that the Goverment now dismantle the digital infrastructure for TraceTogether and SafeEntry, and delete all the personal data collected. The sole exception being the TraceTogether data connected to a murder case in May 2020. Public trust is a precious asset that Singapore has to enable quick, effective and even intrusive Government actions to resolve problems and deal with crises. The quid pro quo is Government transparency, honesty, self-restraint, and accountability. With the sunsetting of TraceTogether and SafeEntry, and the deletions of the associated personal data, the Government has demonstrated why it is worthy of that trust. #personaldata #tracetogether #publicpolicy #governance #publictrust

The approach of Community Policing has a unique blend of participatory approaches in #LawEnforcement, public safety administration, coveting the entire spectrum of #SecuritySectorGovernance. The indigenous people’s participation and police sensitivity in understanding and imbibing cultural diversity in socially accountable law enforcement is a replicable model for #communitysafety. The #DemocraticPolicing models of community safety depends on human rights based policing practice which enables effective solutions for addressing #intersectional violence on women , children, elderly, minorities, poor and all other vulnerabilities. This is very close to #SDG16 and its public security and justice concerns. With active public #participation through the community police approach, the local panchayats in tribal areas have pledged to promote weddings without dowry, prohibit drug and alcohol abuse and shun pompous marriage celebrations which increase indebtedness in the community. This grassroots initiative, by Jhabua and neighbouring districts like Dhar, Badwani and Alirajpur is helping curb social crimes. This community police initiatives in western Madhya Pradesh~ India, marks a #PublictTrust building enadevour which improves #policeservice delivery and resultantly on #AccessToJustice and security in the society. This is ushering in a replicable model for other tribal districts for the #CommunityPolicing initiatives on similar lines.