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Sault Ste. Marie’s Lincoln Louttit and Chelsey Foucher Awarded the 2024 OACP/CCN Catherine Martin Award of Excellence in Media Relations
For Immediate Release: June 11, 2024
(London, ON) – The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) is proud to announce that the Sault Ste. Marie’s Police Service’s (SSMPS) Corporate Communications team of Lincoln Louttit and Chelsey Foucher are the recipients of the 2024 OACP/OMRON Catherine Martin Award of Excellence in Media Relations.
This award recognizes a sworn or civilian member (or team) who demonstrate consistent dedication and professionalism in the strategic use of media and/or social media to educate and showcase the profession of policing in the community, supporting public safety, or advancing investigations in the Province of Ontario.
During difficult times, Lincoln Louttit and Chelsey Foucher have championed the importance of media relations to improve communication with the public while spearheading innovative projects which improve internal communications, increase the reach of messaging, and strengthen relationships with equity-deserving groups.
The past year has been a challenging year for the City of Sault Ste. Marie. For example, last spring, a child went missing in the woods overnight. In the fall, a police officer was tragically killed in an off-duty motor vehicle collision, a young woman was murdered in her home, an attempted murder was committed on the community’s boardwalk, and two families were forever changed by a heinous act of intimate partner violence resulting in four murders, including three children, and a suicide. The SSMPS’s Corporation Communications team managed these crises with tact and compassion – hosting press conferences, keeping the community informed on social media, and taking on special projects like creating a memory book full of photos and stories for those who knew the fallen officer.
New strategies were developed to improve internal communications and informational awareness within the service, including the Monday Minute – a weekly newsletter, and embedding internal news on their desktop wallpaper service-wide. These strategies have made a big impact in keeping SSMPS members informed.
The Corporate Communications team has also made enormous strides in enhancing relationships with equity deserving groups. Mr. Louttit and Ms. Foucher consulted with many community groups such as Sault Pride to ensure social media messaging is respectful and representative. They also developed Communities, Cultures, and Religions: A Guidebook for Sault Police in consultation with diverse community groups to improve front-line interactions. The team also produced Cooking With a Cop, a cooking show where each episode involves an officer cooking with a community leader from an equity deserving group. These efforts have also complemented SSMPS’s EDI strategies, which have been well received by community leaders.
The team’s innovative projects have also extended to public safety messaging. For example, Mr. Louttit and Ms. Foucher launched Safety Tips and Tangents with Traffic Joe – an animated video series with a humorous tone to provide road safety tips to the public.
The team’s innovative ideas and engaging content have exponentially increased the service’s social media followership. In 2023, SSMPS gained 4,235 Facebook followers (117% increase from 2022), reached 1,218,361 individuals (270% increase), gained 1,091 Instagram followers, and started a LinkedIn account to reach new demographics – not to mention their invaluable part of SSMPS’s recruitment efforts.
This annual award is made possible by the generous support from the
Hamilton Police Service.
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#OACP2024
#HarnessingPolicingExcellence
For more information, contact:
Dr. José Luís (Joe) Couto
Director of Government Relations & Communications
T. (416) 926-0424 ext. 22
C. (416) 919-9798
E. media@oacp.ca
X. @OACPOfficial
@OACPCertificate
FB. http://facebook.com/OACPOfficial
Instagram: @OACPOfficial
YT. http://youtube.com/OACPOfficial
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