City of Bend recruiting for new Police Department communications manager position
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – The city of Bend has begun recruiting for a new, full-time Police Department communications manager position, a role that will be filled by a civilian and not a sworn officer.
The posting on the job-listing site Indeed says the new position will offer a salary range of about $75,000 to $97,000 a year, with applications being accepted until Jan. 10.
The listing states that the communications manager will report to Police Chief Mike Krantz and manage the department’s “external communications and media strategy." The person also "acts as a liaison between the Police Department and centralized City Communications and the greater community.”
Asked about the new position, City of Bend Communications Director Anne Aurand provided this statement to NewsChannel 21:
“In late 2020, the city embarked on a community input project related to policing policies. Feedback included a call for more community outreach and public information. This includes everything from in-person engagement to online engagement (social media, etc.) and resulted in a recommendation for dedicated resources to promote transparency and accountability. This position is part of fulfilling those recommendations.
“This is a communications manager for Police, not simply a public information officer (PIO). Many police agencies have their own communications department. For many police-specific calls and crisis incidents/events, we’ll still use a sworn PIO for the incident. But media will be directed to this communications person as a first resource in general.
“Historically, Bend Police has used rotating staff in the public information officer (PIO) position, and those people have worn many hats. Being a PIO is one of several jobs they do while in the PIO position. It’s always been a great learning opportunity for those employees, as well as ensuring that the public information officer has specialized knowledge and expertise in the policing world. Bend is growing to a point where the expectations from the community are more than this model can support.”
Aurand also stressed that the new position and role "is not a full-time PIO. This is a communications manager who will have many additional duties – like me – media is only a very small part of my job. Most of my job has to do with personnel and budget management, project management, strategic planning, etc."
