Public Safety Media Relations Coordinator, Carissa Katekaru, is recognized for Leadership in Public Information Management by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP).

The Public Safety Media Relations Coordinator, Carissa Katekaru, was recently awarded the IACP Leadership in Public Information Management Award. This award recognizes an individual public information officer (PIO) and his or her ability to effectively disseminate information to the public.

Carissa was selected as the PIO in early 2017 and has since addressed the agency’s communication challenges. Through formulating a new and innovative approach to communication, she blended both traditional and social media strategies to share the department’s story. Carissa took several strategic steps to build important traditional and social media networks, building one from the ground up – the social media footprint of both police and fire. Fundamental to this change was presenting information quickly, accurately and in an unbiased and transparent way.

Carissa works to not only keep the community members and media partners informed of active incidents, and public interest stories, but she also strives to show the human side of policing through humor and showcasing officers as real people, doing great things in the community they serve.

She was recently recognized at the International Association of Chiefs of Police Annual Awards Banquet in Chicago and was accompanied by Chief Perdue, Assistant Chief Scott, and Lieutenant Palmer.