Latest / Modern Gov Matters / The Heart Behind the Headline with Jeff Hundley
Transcript
- Jeff Hundley: when a crisis comes, we hope that you have put away enough pocket change, meaning you've done the personal engagement in your community so that your community then will stand beside you and help you get through a crisis. Sarah Loyd: Welcome to Modern Gov Matters. I'm Sarah Loyd, and this show is all about honest conversations with local government communicators about what's actually working, what's not, and the stuff that keeps you up at night. Modern Gov Matters is presented by CivAll, powered by Social News Desk. Today, I'm talking with Jeff Hundley, a training specialist at the University of Tennessee's Law Enforcement Innovation Center, where he runs the Master Public Information Officer Program. And when we picture a PIO, we usually think of the person writing the press releases or stepping up to the podium. And Jeff trains those folks and he'll tell you the real job is harder than that. It's about earning a community's trust long before you ever need it. So welcome to ModernGovMatters, Jeff. Jeff Hundley: Thank you, thank you for the invitation. Sarah Loyd: Yeah, of course. So before we dig in, most of your programs at LEIC are for Tennessee law enforcement, but your communications program has pulled in people from 31 states and that's a huge footprint. Did you, did you guys see that coming? Jeff Hundley: initially, actually, no, we developed this program in 2022, fall of 2022. Most of the participants were Tennessee law enforcement, cities, counties, some connection to Tennessee. And as we began to get the word out about the program, people started hearing about it through their friends, through networking. It just exploded into... something that has really grown quickly for us. And I'm super excited about that because, you know, lot of the programs have been around a long time. there are other agencies who have programs who've been going on, going for a long time. And so for us to have something that's cutting edge and new, and when we started putting it together, I really kind of went the direction of what would I enjoy in this type of training. not realizing it was gonna be drastically different than what everyone else was doing. And I think that's been part of the draw for us is that we do something that is a bit different. Sarah Loyd: Yeah, and when did you guys start the program? Jeff Hundley: Fall of 2022 was our first cohort that we had. I met with, after getting approval from my executive director to start the program here, I met with a couple PIOs that are very strong in this state, actually not professionally trained communicators as far as educational background, but very, very good at what they do. so just, I went to their offices. put out Post-It notes on the wall and said, this is what I want to do. What would you do if you were doing this? How would you dream? And so that's initially how the planning got started. It was just that connection with Captain Evie West from the Cleveland Police Department and then Chief Chandler from the Mount Juliet Police Department. very strong in communications, very strong in their branding. And so I went to him and said, what would you do? How would you do this? And to make sure we were on the right track. Sarah Loyd: I love that. I love that you guys really kind of built it from really experienced folks and what they were seeing on the ground and not necessarily relying on old techniques, but really grounding it in what's happening now. And let's talk about what's actually changing on the ground. What's one thing that's really changing in how residents engage with local law enforcement? Jeff Hundley: There's so much information out there the overall view of communications now is changing so quickly that within seconds, incident could be worldwide. And so that is something that we wanted to make sure that we were embracing. And our program actually has a piece of leadership training for that PIO and not just communications. Yes, we cover all the communication pieces, but we also felt it was really necessary for that PIO to get some leadership training because in their position it may be there. A lot of them aren't ranking positions as far as policing goes, and we felt that they would. have been looked over for leadership opportunities. So this is an opportunity for them to come and we work on internally as much as we do externally what's going on in the public. Sarah Loyd: sounds like the ground is still kind of shifting under everyone, you know, with the rapid spread of information. And let's talk about kind of who is actually keeping up. Can you tell me what's working better now than it was a year ago? Jeff Hundley: What's working for us is just that amount of personal story, personal heart that our program brings. And it also connects people together to be able to network beyond state lines and beyond even culturally. what our program brings is the heart of who we are is making those connections. I think that's working, it's creating. our people to be a part of something that is bigger than them and it's working well. Sarah Loyd: I love that. And I hear from a lot of communicators that developing a network of other communicators is really critical in doing their job. Can you talk a little bit about that? Jeff Hundley: It is imperative to do so. remember one of our graduates who graduated early on in this program. He actually is a police PIO in in middle Tennessee. he was called to this to a scene of an accident to cover as just the PIO when he arrived. It was actually one of one of his officers who had passed away. in the accident Sarah Loyd: gosh. Jeff Hundley: that he wasn't aware. And so, you know, in that moment, he called me, can you give me the number of, you know, Evie West and can you give me the number of this person and this person, this person? Because at that moment he was under such stress that he was just even having a hard time putting together. It was a very, very difficult situation there. And so I was able to immediately connect him with the people that he needed to be connected with so that they could help him get his initial response out, you know, what to do with, you know, next steps for them. And so that's, that's an important, very important piece is that networking piece, because you don't know when you're going to need it. We've had a couple of people who, who came from the Tampa area to be a part of our program. and ended up having a hurricane hit while they were there. The hurricane that hit extreme East Tennessee, extreme West North Carolina, we were graduating a cohort of people that morning who then had to go home to find their entire communities had been washed away by the flooding of Helene. So they were able to call back people in the class and call in people to to come to the area to, and some of them even work virtually in order to help them with comms during that crisis. Sarah Loyd: Yeah, I love that this, you know, community of communicators, has each other's back, regardless of what's happening, you know, they'll, they'll put down what they're working on and come, you know, come to the aid of, people who need it. you know, Jeff Hundley: Right. Sarah Loyd: just in their worst moments, it's amazing. so you told me that your instructors are really what sets your program apart. So can you tell me a little bit about your team and how they shape your trainings? Jeff Hundley: when I started developing this program that we developed the program from a multidisciplinary view so that it wasn't just law enforcement. We are the Law Enforcement Innovation Center as part of the University of Tennessee, but our comms programs, they even go beyond public safety to be honest with you because we've had. some participants from school systems, like some of the natural resources, natural gas, those agencies. But our instructors bring so much heart into that week. And so rather than, when you come to our program, rather than you having the same instructor for the entire five days, I introduce you to eight different instructors during the week. And we're able to do that because a lot of those people are grounded in that. greater Nashville area, we have, I have instructors who have a background in fire. I have instructors who have a background in correction in the department of correction, who are former reporters. many of them are former reporters and have a background in policing, of course. And then we also have instructors that come who have a background in emergency management, city, county. we, cover just about every discipline in order to bring them together. And why not? Because in a crisis, they're all going to need to work together. You know, that you're going to have those policing, those fire, those EMAs, all right there on the same scene together. So we go ahead and throw them into our scenario-based training that week so that they have just as much opportunity to work with that city or county PIO in case of emergency. Sarah Loyd: I'm curious, can you give me an idea of kind of if someone joins your program, what could they expect to go through during that week? Jeff Hundley: It's intense. So it's so intense that I make a joke with them that I, know, with Nashville being very difficult to navigate during the day, we provide their lunch. We do everything to keep them on site so that we can take our break and then head back into our material. And so about 30 days prior to the class, they get some pre-work. that is based on getting to know them. They have a Canva project that they have to do, just a little bit of reading. And then they typically prepare a bio and some things like that. And then that Canva project allows me to, and the group to learn a lot about each other before they even get there, even the instructors, because we all do Canva slides as well. And it's just an opportunity for us to see, you know, find common ground, you know, what are some of our similar interests. coming in and then can expect to be paired with someone that's from a different discipline in our projects. So, you know, they come on Monday, they get a project, but we're also, we're doing an emotional intelligence assessment for them. And we have a very, very strong course that people respond really well to. And then we do a video project during the week. It's a separate project than the one that they have on Friday. And then evaluations are done by peers and by our instructors. on Friday and we're tough, we're tough on them. And so, you know, everyone wants to come to Nashville for training, but it is very intense. Sarah Loyd: it sounds like you guys have a lot of best practices. You're putting folks through the paces. What are some of the pitfalls folks need to look out for? What is not working when it comes to communications, especially in the law enforcement community? Jeff Hundley: Here in Tennessee, we have a lot of public agencies that are limiting their comments or blocking them totally to public from being able to comment on a public story. And so we teach them in our course based on, there's been a Supreme Court decision about a year ago that tied in personal use of your Facebook with the public entity that you represent. There's also has been even in Tennessee, we've had a sheriff's office who was sued because they limited comments to someone, their First Amendment rights. but I still see people doing it in agencies where where they limit those and, and I understand why it can become a lot of chatter. And especially with the many bots and things is there there are right now, I can understand why that they would want to do that. However, best practices says just don't do it because your true community is going to stand up for you. when you put away some pocket change, and I say pocket change just meaning, you've shown the community who you are, you've engaged them and let them know you care about them, they will speak on your behalf when it's necessary. And then you need to be transparent when it's time to be transparent. Sarah Loyd: Yeah, and you talk about pocket change and kind of building that goodwill over time, but I guess without the comments, you don't really know if you're hitting the mark there. Jeff Hundley: Right. Yes, there are so many and so many of the comments are, are if you, you know, you can look and see that they're a bot, you can see that they're not really a legit account. and, and I know that the tendency would be for that communicator because of, social media fatigue to just go ahead and block all those out. And in those instances, we do teach you. you better have a really good communication policy that is posted multiple places that's easily accessible for your public to see so that they can understand that you have something in place. We still don't feel like that's the best practice to hide those comments, but if you're going to do it, we say make sure that you've got those policies posted where everyone can see them readily. Sarah Loyd: I love talking to our guests about the why, the thing that gets them out of bed every day. So can you tell me about a small moment recently that reminded you why this work matters so much? Jeff Hundley: we pour our heart and soul into the, into the week and I teach the emotional intelligence piece. it's usually happens at the beginning of the week. And in the last couple cohorts, I've gotten emails from, from individuals who have left that experience and sent me a just a long email of, didn't, I didn't tell you this in person, but this is how that session impacted me personally. I came thinking I was getting communication training. I didn't know I was going to get this, this, you know, personal experience that has really helped me to grow emotional intelligence and to help their self-esteem. And there's so many of those I had a firefighter from Indiana in our last cohort. And he sent me an email that was just so heartfelt and it was his response to our instructors. had a, had a police officer that recently reached out to me with this, with a similar situation saying, you know, before I came to your class, I really wasn't sure if I was on the right path. Really wasn't sure if this is what I wanted to do. And now I'm certain that this is what I want to do. I love the amount of passion that you guys bring to it and it's refreshed me. And this is exactly why we're doing what we're doing. Sarah Loyd: That's amazing. All right, Jeff, it is time for the lightning round. So I always like asking our guests about their local communities. So let's dig in. First of all, where are you based? Jeff Hundley: We are in Oak Ridge because our agency, have the National Forensic Academy that we house. So we have our own body farm, our own labs, and all those wonderful Sarah Loyd: wow. Jeff Hundley: things as well. Sarah Loyd: All right, so in Oak Ridge, what is your favorite local spot? Jeff Hundley: I love getting downtown anywhere close to the UT campus. I'm a UT grad and that orange means a lot to me. And so being able to be a part of something bigger than. than just going to school there like we say that Vols are Vols for life and volunteers for life. And I've had some even some personal experiences with some health issues lately that have proven to me that that statement is true. So I love doing anything that I can get close to campus. Sarah Loyd: All right, and what would you say is the most underrated part of your community? Jeff Hundley: just the integrity of the people, the heart of the people here is underrated. when we went to Hawaii, I took a team myself and two other people to Hawaii, which I thought was probably the nicest people that I've ever encountered. However, we received card after card after card from them saying, I didn't think Southern hospitality was a real thing, but you guys have shown me that Southern hospitality really does exist. what we bring to everyone with Southern hospitality, it really, you know, we really do care and we really are passionate about what we do. We do have a little bit of an accent as you can tell, but that doesn't mean that Sarah Loyd: Hahaha Jeff Hundley: we're not educated and that we don't have a heart for what we're doing. Sarah Loyd: last but not least, if your area had a theme song, what would it be? Jeff Hundley: I would be wrong in not going to Rocky Top and saying that Rocky Top has to be our theme song. I wear this orange proudly. I'm a Kentuckian originally, born and raised, been in Knoxville for 20 years. But I came to Knoxville under the Rocky Top to actually work with children in DCS, Department of Children's Services, and then came to UT seven years ago, got my masters after that, and then both my sons have graduated from UT. And so when I go home and my family says, why are you wearing that orange? You know, the orange means a lot to me and that, so my theme song that I always go to is Rocky Top. Now, I will say this, I like Dolly's Dolly's version, Dolly Parton's version better than Sarah Loyd: you Jeff Hundley: anyone else's, but that's my go-to. Sarah Loyd: Amazing. All right. I love a good, Dolly shout out. So, Jeff, this was such a good conversation. I really appreciate you being on the show. And if someone wants to, you know, join your program or learn more, where can they go? Jeff Hundley: So they can go to our website, which is leic.tennessee.edu, they can email me at jeff.hundley@tennessee.edu And I'd love to speak to them about what we're doing. In that area and even other areas that we're excelling in, we're doing a lot of work right now in autism, law enforcement response to autism. Everyone always says when I respond back, they're like, you answered back so quickly and I didn't expect someone Sarah Loyd: haha Jeff Hundley: to call, actually get a real person when I call. Again, it goes back to that heart of what we do. So contact us, I'm sure that we... We'll find a place for you in our program for sure. Sarah Loyd: Thank you again. And really such a great conversation. Modern Gov Matters is presented by CivAll powered by Social News Desk. If you found this episode helpful or interesting, please share it. And for more episodes, visit moderngovmatters.com. I'm Sarah Loyd and we'll see you in two weeks.