Capt. Paul Starks (right) of the Montgomery County (Md.) Police Department has worked in many of the department’s divisions -- from patrol to Internal Affairs – and is now director of its Media Services Division.

“Accuracy, accuracy and accuracy” are the key elements when communicating with the media, Police Chief J. Thomas Manager told Capt. Paul Starks of the Montgomery County (Md.) Police Department.

Communications professionals enhance their roles by their awareness of the issues and events outside their working sphere and the experience they bring to the job. In many public safety agencies, civilians are employed as communications personnel. But in some police departments, sworn officers — and even those of rank — are playing a key role in disseminating information, interacting with the media and serving as their agency’s spokesperson. Starks is a good example of someone filling this role.

Possessing a degree in law enforcement from the University of Maryland and a master’s in management from Johns Hopkins University, Starks began his career in the Montgomery County Police Department in February 1985. He has worked in the patrol division, the street crimes unit and has been promoted through the ranks. In 1993, he was promoted to corporal and subsequently to sergeant. As a sergeant, he ran a shift in the Wheaton substation for six months and, after that, led a plain clothes unit before moving into the Internal Affairs Division.

“It was a challenge,” Starks says. “It was hard but a valuable learning experience.”

From 2001-2002, Starks served as an aide to the assistant police chief. Following that assignment, he returned to being in charge of a patrol shift. He was then promoted to lieutenant and transferred to another district, eventually returning to the Internal Affairs Division as a lieutenant/deputy director.

His transition into the department’s media unit, in which he currently serves, began in December 2007. In September 2009, Starks was promoted to captain and director of the Media Services Division. He brings more than a quarter century of police experience and wisdom to the organization, and it has been of tremendous benefit to his role with the media.

“This has been the most challenging position I’ve ever held and the most challenging learning curve as well,” Starks says. He admits he was fortunate because good people were already in place. “They broke in their boss in a good way,” he says.

Unabashedly, he discusses the numerous daily challenges with working with the media, acknowledging that the media likes to report on public safety issues.

“We can’t often get information quick enough to the news media,” he says. “It’s our challenge to continue to show and demonstrate the great work done by officers and others as well. I feel like it’s my job to tout all the good work this department is doing and show the community they are being served by caring professionals.”

Getting It Right
Starks says the media division must be transparent about what the department does and simply let the chips fall where they may. If something occurs that could be potentially embarrassing to the department, Starks says they deal with it.

“We’ve been able to put that information out, many times, before the news media learned about it from other sources,” he says.

 “I believe we’ve earned a good reputation, and we’ve been complimented that we do a good job in communicating with [the media],” Starks says. He is cognizant of timeliness, and both he and his staff always attempt to be considerate of deadlines.

“We try and fulfill the reasonable requests we get from [the media],” he says.

Starks understands, as do most communications professionals, the importance of establishing relationships with the media. He says time and experience are relevant concerning who can be trusted. Equally important for him is to engage the trust of officers within the department as a whole.

“People in the police department who know me and, hopefully, trust me will not hold back information,” he says.

Starks says he has to maintain a balance between detectives and the media. He explains that, oftentimes, detectives don’t want to give up any information, and the media wants it all. The police chief once told him he would be in the middle of it every single day.

“Stranger-based events are the toughest ones to report about,” Starks says.

Starks notes that the media can’t get enough information about high-profile cases. “They are never satisfied,” he says.

A recent high-profile case in Bethesda, Md., involved two co-workers at a Lululemon Athletica store. The incident brought tremendous media attention to the Montgomery County Police Department.

One woman was murdered. The surviving woman was injured and alleged that two masked men dressed in black broke into the store and killed her co-worker and sexually assaulted her.

Reporters asked questions regarding the case based on theories circulating on the Internet. Starks told reporters what he could based on the information the police department was operating on.

Starks acknowledges that the police department knew that the possibility existed that the survivor might have been involved in the crime. She was re-interviewed, and the case fell apart. Seven days later, she was arrested for the murder of her co-worker.

“Investigators have to look at the whole playing field. This is a horrible story,” he says.

Balance
In his role, it’s paramount that Starks have a good working relationship with the police chief. He says the chief is open to him.

“It’s my job to let him know [information],” Starks says. “It’s a significant position because you can help, greatly, how the department is perceived and how the community thinks of the police department and how they interact.”

As an experienced police officer in a variety of units throughout the police department, including two stints on the decentralized SWAT team, Starks has brought a lot of wisdom to the job.

Constantly on the move between his job and family, he has little spare time. The time he does have he enjoys spending with his family. Married with five children — all boys, ages 5, 7, 10, 13 and 19 — he is a both a busy professional and family man.

“I just enjoy being home with the family and building a fire in the house or backyard,” says Starks. For him, that is the perfect end to a busy shift.

About the Author
Karen L. Bune is a victim specialist in the domestic violence unit of the State’s Attorney’s Office for Prince George’s County, Md. She serves as an adjunct professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., and Marymount University in Arlington, Va., where she teaches victimology.

Bune is a consultant for the Training and Technical Assistance Center for the Office for Victims of Crime and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice. She is a nationally recognized speaker and trainer on victim issues. She is board-certified in traumatic stress and domestic violence, and is a fellow of The Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress and the National Center for Crisis Management.

She is a 2009 inductee in the Wakefield High School (Arlington, Va.) Hall of Fame and received the Chief’s Award from the Prince George’s County Maryland Police Chief in 2009.