COMMUNICATION CRISIS DURING THE “EAR SQUAT” INCIDENT

ASP Lai Lee Ching

1. INTRODUCTION

A crisis can come from no where at any time; natural disasters, human errors and industrial accidents can all cause a crisis. However, the crisis to be discussed in this paper is different from the crisis stated in the Inspecter General of Police Standing Order (IGSO) B106 – Crisis Response Team, which took effect from 2 July 2003. Under IGSO B106, “crisis” refers to crisis of a criminal nature, such as hostage taking, terrorism or hijacking which is related to national security and public order and the crisis response team comes under the control and command of the Director of Internal Security and Public Order. The crisis to be discussed in this paper is related to the public perception of Royal Malaysia Police (RMP) which has adverse impact on its image and reputation.

In its studies since 1990, the Institute for Crisis Management (ICM) found that 53 percent of crises were caused by management decisions/indecision, where most crises happened because the management did not take necessary actions when they were informed about a problem and allowed the problem to eventually grow into a crisis. The “ear squat” incident which involved a detainee in police lockup is a clear example of poor management of a problem.

2. THE “EAR SQUAT” INCIDENT

This incident began with complaints from two female People’s Republic of China citizens in November 2005, who alleged that they were emotionally and verbally abused while under police detention and were subjected to do ear squats in the nude. Member of Parliament (MP) Teresa Kok of the Democratic Action Party (DAP) accompanied one of them to lodge a police report. Later that month, Kok was given a VCD by an anonymous “whistle- blower” which depicted a female police officer ordering a female detainee to do ear squats in the nude. Kok later showed the video clip to some MPs, Deleted: other triggering shock and outrage among the public in the country. Deleted: .

Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi insisted that there would be no cover-up in the investigation, and so did his deputy, Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak. The Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Dato’ Sri Musa Hassan, while giving the same assurance, defended the ear squats as "standard procedure". Deputy Internal Security Minister, Datuk Noh Omar then further stirred up controversy when he told foreigners upset about the incident to "go home".

An independent commission, the Commission to Enquire into the Standard Operation Procedure, Rules and Regulations in relation to the Conduct of Body Search in respect of an Arrest and Detention by the Police, was set up on 1st December 2005 under the Prime Minister’s orders to investigate the issue (Nadeswaran, 2005). At the same time, opposition parties took the opportunity to reinforce the call for the establishment of an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commmisssion (IPCMC) (The Sun, 29 Nov 2005).

This unfortunate incident further tarnished the image of RMP which has been receiving quite a lot of brickbats from the public lately. However, it also made RMP realize that something important was missing from its service delivery process – Public Relations.

3. CONCEPTS AND MODEL ADOPTED

Communication in time of crisis, or crisis communication, is the art and science of working with the public through print, broadcast, cable and Internet media during an event, which could have negative, devastating impact to a governmental, corporate or non-profit organization if not handled properly. It is a skill that a public relations officer should be equipped with in the management of any crisis. The awareness of the importance of crisis management and communication has increased in recent years especially after the 911 incident. It is vital that organization be prepared to handle incidents that could affect its public image and prevent occurrence of a crisis. For the purpose of this case study, the crisis communication concepts and model adopted are as the followings:

3.1. Crisis Communication Plan

Crisis communication plan is pre-incident or pre-event planning. Dr Ricky Telg, an Associate Professor of Department of Agricultural Education and Communication, University of Florida, USA, states that both preparedness and incident response are essential in crisis communication planning and should address three key issues as stated below:

a) Organize a “what if” brainstorming session within organization. Determine steps on how to respond to the “what if” situations.

b) Gather and classify information into categories, such as facts and rumours. Facts should be updated frequently; rumours should be verified or exposed as myths.

c) Select crisis management and crisis communication teams. This will involve determining who is responsible for communicating with the media during a crisis, who fields telephone calls, and who makes decisions about what to say to the media. Everyone in the organization should be aware of the crisis communication team, and know how and where to reach team members in the event of a crisis.

Bernstein (2001) who concurs with Telg is of the opinion that managing a crisis effectively by preparing for responses to a crisis is always a better choice to reacting to it. Bernstein (2003) listed ten steps to crisis communication as follows: a) Identify Crisis Communication Team A small team of senior executives should be identified to serve as Crisis Communication Team. Ideally, the team should be led by the director of the department concerned and include the public relations executive and legal counsel as his advisers. b) Identify a spokesperson There should be only one person who is authorized to speak for the organization in time of crisis. Normally, the head of the Crisis Communication Team should be the spokesperson. However, communications skill is the primary criteria in choosing a spokesperson. c) Spokesperson training The spokesperson should be given appropriate training to equip him with appropriate skills. Through training, the spokesperson should be taught how to be prepared, to be ready to respond in a way that maximizes the chance of a story or analyst’s evaluation coming out the way they want it to. d) Establish communication protocol An emergency communication plan should be established and distributed to all employees, informing them precisely what to do and who to do what if there appears to be a potential or occurrence of a crisis. e) Identify and know your ‘audiences’ It is crucial to identify the group of people who are interested in seeking or bringing out the shortcomings of an organization and make rapid contact with them, including the media, in time of crisis. f) Anticipate crises Be proactive and prepared for crises. Carry out brainstorming sessions with members of the Crisis Communication Team on all potential crises. By doing this, some situations can be prevented by simply modifying existing methods of operation and team members are able to think about possible responses and actions. g) Assess crisis situation Reacting without adequate information is not encouraged in any crisis situation. The Crisis Communication Team should be provided with accurate information for it to take appropriate action, taking into account all necessary steps in curtailing the crisis. h) Key messages The Crisis Communication Team shall decide what or how much information should be made public. Key messages should normally include: “We will provide the media with updated information as soon as it is available”. i) Decide on communication methods There are many different ways to communicate a crisis, internally or externally. Employees, general public and clients can be briefed personally or by post, newsletters or faxed messages. The media can receive press releases and explanatory letters, or attend one- on-one briefings and press conferences. Each of these options and the many other available means have different impacts and must be evaluated carefully before it is deployed. j) Riding out the storm No matter what the nature of the crisis, be it uplifting or derogatory, despite it being meticulously attended to, there are bound to be some members of the public who will not react the way we intend them to and this can be immensely frustrating. When this happens, the followings should be carried out:

• Take an objective look at the reactions in question. Is it our fault or is it their perception? • Decide if another set of communication is likely to change that perception. Is that further communication beneficial and worth the effort?

3.2. Crisis Response Model

The Crisis Response Model which consists of three components, namely operational response, management response and communication response, was developed by the Institute for Crisis Management (ICM). During a crisis, the organization responses to its internal and external public through its PR Division which also acts as the coordinator between the organization and the public.

1) Operational Response

Operational response occurs at the point of crisis and where full information of the crisis can be gathered. At the operational response stage, emergency response procedures are implemented to protect employees and business operations, as well as to assess the situation so as to give the head office a clear picture of the situation. The top management, upon receiving detailed report, should take necessary actions to overcome or mitigate the situation.

2) Management Response

As soon as the management has been informed about the occurrence of a crisis, the Crisis Communication Team shall be activated. The team should consist of members from the three components in the model. Doing so will ensure the uniformity of information and collective decision on action plan can be carried out to overcome the crisis. An organization with no standard procedure/manual in handling crisis will definitely face many difficulties. The crisis communication team shall advise the top management on the immediate appropriate action to be taken. Once the necessary action has been taken to overcome the crisis, the management should then get prepared to inform the public about the crisis.

3) Communication Response

Communicating to the public during a crisis is not an easy task. This challenge is normally given to the designated spokesperson who is properly trained with PR and communication skills. The spokesperson would have to face the media, government agencies and other stakeholders, and must be skillful enough to handle all the questions and demands as well as to ensure stakeholders understand the situation. Effective and well-planned crisis communication will minimize adverse impact to the organization during a crisis.

During a crisis, the management should proceed in such a way that it can harvest the most effective outcome from the three components collectively in order to generate a unified response to the crisis. This will enable the PR Division to release accurate information to the public and avoid confusion (Bahtiar, Hassan & Saidathul, 2005).

4. RATIONALE FOR CRISIS COMMUNICATION PLAN AND PR EFFORT

It is undeniable that prompt communication with the public with satisfactory statement will prevent the situation from worsening. During a crisis, an organization may fall into another crisis because of its failure in dealing with the public. This may lead to confusion, along with financial and personal losses due to a poor public image. The Institute for Crisis Management (ICM) defines this as public perception crisis, which is a kind of consequence or a “satellite” crisis of an emergency or sudden crisis. Dealing with this crisis reflects the quality of the organization response to a crisis and the efficiency of their decision making process.

RMP has seen many crises come and go, the ‘ear squat’ incident, classified as Grade II sudden crisis, is one example. According to Ruin (2002), sudden crisis is a disruption in the organization or company’s business, which occurs without warning and is likely to generate news coverage and may adversely impacts employees, investors, customers, suppliers, the public and the organization itself. A Grade II crisis is an event that could have potential impact to organization’s image, operation and legal liabilities; and requires actions to be taken by the crisis committee.

There has been widespread negative perception and dissatisfaction from the public on the conduct and performance of police personnel in recent years. Allegations of violation of human rights, abuse of power and misconduct are the major censure lashed out at the police. Such criticisms are not only made by the man in the street but also by politicians. It was most unfortunate that the “ear squat” incident was politicized and blown out of perspective.

Comparing the actions taken by RMP in handling the “ear squat” incident with the crisis communication plan suggested by Bernstein (2003), it is found that RMP did not have a crisis communication plan to deal with the image crisis suffered by it.

Several weaknesses are observed as a result of the absence of a crisis communication team:

i) no attempt to conduct a press conference to explain to the media about the situation or organize a tour to the Petaling Jaya Police Station lockup for reporters to get a clearer picture, ii) responses from the RMP was unsatisfactory and delayed, thus exacerbating the situation, iii) though Dato’ Sri Musa Hassan, Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG) was acting as the organization’s spokesperson, it is not known if he had been properly advised by the PR Division, because his statement on penalizing the person who videotaped the incident rather than the policewoman drew further condemnation.

The findings by the Commission to Enquire into the Standard Operation Procedure, Rules and Regulations in relation to the Conduct of Body Search in respect of an Arrest and Detention by the Police revealed that the police were allowed to strip search a person detained for drug related offences. However, when doing so, human dignity should be respected and upheld and as such the person responsible for the video clip should be punished.

According to Ruin (2002), continued exposure to crisis would adversely erode an organization’s reputation. If an organization is ill-prepared to sail through a storm due to lack of procedural crisis management, it could end up paying for costly recoveries. In the case of RMP, the DIG’s statement should be a PR effort to restore public confidence in the police and to clarify the necessity for such ear-squats.

5. COMMUNICATION AND PR EFFORTS DURING THE CRISIS

Using the ICM crisis response model to introspect RMP’s actions following the exposure of the “ear squat” incident, it is found that those at the operational response level, namely staff at the Petaling Jaya Police District Headquarters had failed to subdue the build-up of negative publicity of the incident. This was because it did not have any emergency response procedure in place and conflicting information from all quarters involved in the enquiry did not ameliorate the situation.

Although the DIG was acting as spokesperson for the organization, it was only done at a later stage. What the management response team should have done was to gather a crisis communication team which would include the PR unit to immediately study the situation and to advise the top management accordingly so that the appointed spokesperson can make appropriate statements.

Finally, those at the communication response level, especially the PR unit, on the other hand was responsible for disseminating information to interested parties, including its internal public, so that they have an accurate understanding of the incident. This was not observed and thus created confusion especially between the police and concerned parties, namely politicians and media.

6. CONCLUSION

The negative publicity received by RMP recently has clearly indicated the importance of crisis management and communication. A well-organized crisis communication plan being in place will not only avert imminent situations from becoming ugly but will also lay the foundation to fostering good relations with the organization’s critics.

As such the PR Division plays an important role in maintaining good and cordial relationship with the media whose audience are the general public and those in the PR Division should be skilled and experienced in the science and art of communication. At the same time episodes which have a significant impact on the organization’s image and prestige should be well- documented and archived to enable them to be used as learning materials.

It is unlikely for any organization as large and with a history as long as RMP to be devoid of an image crisis at one time or another. However, the organization should adopt appropriate changes in line with today’s fast changing and informed world. Deleted: ¶

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Institute for Crisis Management (2006). Myths in crisis management. Retrieved on 22 Apr 2006 from http:/www.crisisexperts.com/myths.htm

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