NLES Open Participation Press Release Template

CITY OF ABC ADOPTS NEW PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT PLATFORM

DIVERSIFYING ENGAGEMENT THROUGH TECHNOLOGY

City of ABC, [ST], [Date] – The City of ABC is excited to announce the launch of Polco (www.polco.us), an innovative online engagement platform that lets local residents provide direct input and help to create better law enforcement programs and community-based initiatives. By using Polco, the [municipality type] is making public participation easier for residents and law enforcement. Officials will post questions directly to law enforcement officials on Polco’s website, where residents can answer and comment on the questions.

The City of ABC will soon be asking participants for their input on [first topic]. Specifically, the City  wants to know what law enforcement officials think about [specific question]. 

[Quote from City official about how Polco is a good tool to use for the project.]

The City will be asking for further input on [other projects that the municipality or police department will be asking for input on] on Polco in the coming weeks and months.

To participate, law enforcement officials should go to polco.us/[shorturl]. Once they have answered the question, residents will be asked to provide their ZIP code to confirm where they live. This allows the City to be sure they are hearing from each person only once and to see which general area of the city respondents live in. Responses will remain anonymous, and personal information will be securely stored on Polco. 

Residents will also be asked to provide an email address to Polco, which will allow the City to easily contact them with future questions. This service is free to all residents. Polco is committed to a strict privacy policy—they only share anonymous, combined results. Participants’ individual data and votes are never shared. [Insert a customer quote or news about partnering with another company, if appropriate.]

For more information, contact the City at the contact information above.