Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this study was to identify the key strategies for building trust as perceived by law enforcement leaders. To increase voluntary compliance, law enforcement leaders would benefit from understanding the key strategies for trust building and how to ensure their program and policy decisions build trust with the community. Increased voluntary compliance with the law will free up valuable government resources, which could be redirected to other public health initiatives. Methodology. After a review of the literature, the key conceptual framework categories for building trust were identified as concern, competency, and integrity. To identify the key strategies, law enforcement leaders responded to a series of questions using the dynamic narrative approach, which allows for individual as well as group participation. The participants were the top executives in U.S. law enforcement organizations. Validity was established through an expert panel of researchers, and data analysis included interrater reliability. Findings. After determining the importance of the role of community trust in law enforcement, the study identified key strategies for building community trust as perceived by law enforcement leaders for each category outlined in the conceptual framework: concern, competency, and integrity. The research resulted in a total of 14 overarching key strategies: 5 for concern, 4 for competency, and 5 for integrity. Conclusions. The results of the study indicate the importance of community trust relative to law enforcement. The key strategies represent an overarching approach that law enforcement leaders can apply when making program or policy decisions. The study revealed that it is important for law enforcement leaders to create trust-laden organizations that utilize strategies to build trust. Higher levels of trust between law enforcement and the community promote increased compliance with the law and lead to safer communities. Recommendations. Law enforcement leaders can increase voluntary compliance with the law by implementing key strategies for building community trust. Continued research is needed to explore ways in which to operationalize the strategies identified by leaders in this study. The findings in this study offer law enforcement leaders key strategies for increasing trust with the communities they serve.