Overview
Government and Media Relations (GMR) serves two distinctive functions for the Office of the Chief: media relations and legislative liaison relations.
GMR is responsible for coordinating agency legislation with committees, legislators, and other state agencies. GMR also reviews and seeks input from interested stakeholders on agency legislation and answers policy questions for legislative constituents.
The office handles all statewide media relations for the agency and is the lead/primary point of contact for critical and major incidents. GMR provides assistance and training to district public information officers (PIOs), monitors news coverage, and updates the agency’s external website. Additional support services through GMR includes agency photo and video services, equipment and standards review, and oversight of all social media accounts.
Key Measurements and Statistics
During the 2020 legislative session, GMR tracked 339 bills to assess their potential impact to the Washington State Patrol.
In a year of extraordinary world, national, and state events, GMR staff responded to hundreds of media inquiries regarding law enforcement’s role and response in public safety, social changes, civil strife and political conflict. Inquiries came from local, regional, national and international media outlets.
GMR hired the agency’s second full-time tribal liaison in Spokane, Washington. Our tribal liaisons are increasing state criminal justice protective and investigative resources for reporting and identifying missing Native American women in the state. This step was critical in formulating next steps to connect with the Native American communities, specifically in regards to the prevalent issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) in our state.
Over the course of the year, GMR completed 125 photo projects and 42 video projects for the agency and the governor’s office.
While COVID-19 brought unique challenges, GMR staff successfully transitioned into a teleworking environment.
The WSP social media presence grew by:
Facebook: 12k+ followers
Twitter: 19k+ followers