May 7, 2013
By: Amy Connor-Flores

Our rotary group was visited last Tuesday by Thibodaux Chief of Police, Scott Silverii Ph.D., who informed us first that the Thibodaux Fireman’s Fair was a large success, with great presence by the Thibodaux Police Department.

He then spoke with us on a topic he often discusses with law enforcement audiences – Public Perception and Managing Your Message, or what he likes to call “Media Matters”.

Silverii related to us a story in which he was recently asked about a situation that occurred in a particular local neighborhood. Unfortunately, the Police Chief realized during the curse of the conversation that the information had been horribly misconstrued after circulating through many individuals – a common problem that the Police Department faces as they attempt to relay accurate information to the public and manage public perception.

Sometimes national perception of law enforcement can be a little less than altruistic. Many people believe that traffic tickets are administered to generate revenue for the department, when the reality in Thibodaux is quite different. 

These are written with discretion for traffic safety concerns.  The department also enforces a high-visibility program which helps to achieve a high level of social compliance in traffic safety

The department does make many traffic stops since they are aware that criminals are vehicular in nature, usually taking a vehicle from point A to point B to commit crimes.  Through systematic and methodological analyzing of maps and data, making such strategic stops increases the likelihood of catching these criminals, but more than half of all traffic stops are precautionary in nature and result in a verbal warning.  

Even with such a high level of discretion practiced, the department is able to maintain a high level of reduction in social harms related to crashes and crimes.  The department also seeks to achieve the optimal level of self-initiated policing activities to maintain crime suppression without going overboard to a level of diminishing returns, or over-policing.

One of the biggest Mayor’s goals over the past two years has been to truly implement community policing.  This includes implementing the first ever full-time bicycle patrol. Also, every officer, every day upon arriving at work, patrols on foot for at least one hour, allowing them to meet people, making them accessible and more human to the public. 

The Thibodaux Police Department uses social media to its advantage, posting videos introducing members of the law enforcement team to the public and putting us on a first-name-basis with them. The videos are unscripted and allow us to relate to these individuals and understand where they’ve come from and how committed they are to working for us.  The department understands how critical social media networks like Facebook are for providing accurate information to the public in a timely fashion.

Crime data is pulled off of the record management system daily and is repopulated visually onto crime maps that are accessible to the public via a Thibodaux Police Department  smartphone app that was developed with Apple.  It allows individuals to anonymously submit photos and tips to the department and actively assist in keeping the city safe. 

YouTube videos are also created and uploaded for all press releases, engaging people from all over the country with the City of Thibodaux. The Department strives to fulfill the Mayor’s mandate of being accountable, transparent, and true public servants by pushing out a consistent message.  They try to engage with the humanistic side in headlines in stories while maintaining these essential principles.  This allows them to go before local and national audiences and represent themselves and our city well.

Cop Talk is another example of the department’s use of media to reach the public with a positive message. It is a local television program segment explaining various law enforcement terminology, discussing mapping or other technology, or highlighting a unit of the police department.  It has been very successful in installing pubic confidence in our law enforcement. 

For up-to-date-information, The Thibodaux Police Department can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ThibodauxPolice and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ThibodauxPD.