At the heart of any successful community policing program is effective communication between law enforcement officers and the people they serve. The National Coalition Building Institute (NCBI), an international leadership training organization, with local chapters and affiliate organizations throughout the world, has over 20 years of experience in working closely with law enforcement agencies in designing programs that improve police-community relations. Collaborating with law enforcement agencies, NCBI developed, with financial assistance from the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), an innovative, community outreach program that has the following distinctive elements:
- providing intensive, one-on-one skill-training and coaching in effective communication techniques to police professionals in public contact positions
- strengthening police-community relationships, especially with racial and ethnic minorities, through a series of community workshops that focus on understanding the experiences of both the police as well as community representatives
- developing a leadership team, composed of NCBI-trained community leaders and law enforcement professionals, who would be able to respond effectively to police-community tensions when they may arise, and
- building national impact by evaluating the program and then developing the capacity to replicate the project in communities across the United States.