Good Cop, Bad Cop

Synopsis

Participants work individually, assuming the roles of three different people and brainstorming their perceptions of the police. Later, they work with a partner and in teams to prepare a list of do's and don'ts for improving the public's perception of the police.

Purpose

To identify behaviors and characteristics of the police that enhance their image in the minds of the public.

Participants

Minimum: 6

Maximum: 50

Best: 15 to 30

Time

20 to 45 minutes

Supplies

  • Countdown timer
  • Whistle
  • Sheets of flipchart paper
  • Felt-tipped markers
  • Masking tape

Flow

Ask the participants to select three people. Tell the participants that they are going to undertake a thought experiment. Ask each participant to think of three people. Encourage the participants to make sure that these people are as different as possible in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, and occupation. Tell the participants that these people could be public figures, colleagues, friends, family members, acquaintances, or fictional characters.

Ask the participants to identify positive behaviors and characteristics of the police. Instruct the participants to work individually and assume the role of one of the three people. Ask them to make a list of responses to this question:

In the perception of this person, what behaviors and characteristics of the police will make him or her feel positive toward them?

Ask the participants to repeat the same thinking task with the role of the other two people. Announce a 3-minute time limit for this activity.

Ask the participants to identify negative behaviors and characteristics of the police. Explain that you are going to repeat the activity—but work in the opposite direction. As before, instruct the participants to assume the role of one of the three people. Ask them to make a list of responses to this question:

In the perception of this person, what behaviors and characteristics of the police will make him or her feel negative toward them?

Ask the participants to repeat the same thinking task with the role of the other two people. Announce a 3-minute time limit for this activity.

Distribute playing cards. Give a random playing card to each participant. Make sure to distribute equal numbers of black and red cards. (If you have an odd number of participants, you will end up with one more person who has either a red or a black card.)

Pair up with a partner. Ask the participants to pair up with someone who has a card of the different color. If one participant is left over, ask him or her to pair up with you.

Discuss positive and negative police factors with the partner. Ask the participants to share the positive behaviors and characteristics they had identified in the first thought experiment. Ask them to also discuss the negative factors. Announce a 3-minute time limit for this activity.

Form a team. Blow a whistle at the end of 3 minutes. Ask the participants to say “Goodbye” to their partners and to form a team of three to five people who have playing cards of the same color (red or black).

Prepare a checklist. Distribute a sheet of flip-chart paper and a felt-tipped marker to each team. Instruct the team members to share their ideas and to prepare a list of do's and don'ts for the police to improve the public's perception. Announce a 5-minute time limit for this activity.

Review lists from other teams. Blow the whistle at the end of 5 minutes. Ask the teams to attach their posters on the wall with pieces of masking tape. Invite the participants to review the posters from the other teams to discover common items and unique ones. Announce a 3-minute time limit.

Debriefing

Discuss the items from the posters. At the end of 3 minutes, blow the whistle and assemble the participants for a debriefing discussion. Conduct this discussion by asking questions similar to these:

  • Which suggestions appeared in the most posters?
  • Which suggestions were unique to a single poster?
  • Which suggestions do the police most frequently neglect?
  • Which suggestions would significantly improve the public's image of the police?

Prepare an action plan. Invite each participant to individually select one of the techniques for immediate implementation. Ask the participants to prepare a plan for applying this technique to provide effective and engaging training. If time permits, ask the participants to pair up with a new partner and share their action plan ideas.