The recent turmoil and chaos revolving around the Seattle Police Department and the Seattle Police Officers' Guild, which continues in the face of lawsuits stemming from WTO protests, racial profiling, beatings of "good samaritans" at 23rd and Cherry, and other issues, has prompted the Guild to take the corporate high road. Enter the crisis management public relations firm, APCO Associates, based out of Washington DC, whom the Guild has hired to "work on a host of issues," as Guild President Mike Edwards was quoted in a recent Seattle Times column.

What does public relations have to do with police accountability? It takes a basic understanding of the philosophy of the PR industry in general, and the history of APCO in particular, to answer this question.

The modern PR industry has been around as long as elites' desire to influence groups has been, but it became refined in the 1920's with the leadership of Edward Bernays, who as a pioneer of the industry has been referred to as the "father of spin." The intent of public relations is to project a contrived image and mold public opinion around an institution, issue, or even a political candidate through manipulation of the mass media, which is what generates most opinions on most issues of public concern. One branch of the PR industry is referred to as "crisis management," a redundancy that is harnessed by corporations and governments alike to deal with negative publicity that is brought about by, well, an unexpected crisis. The goal is to produce a mass opinion that whatever institution that has created a problem or has come under criticism is working with "the community" and other agencies to solve the problem. Often this has little to do with what is actually being done to solve a problem, and has everything to do with preserving legitimacy in the light of public opinion. Those in control of corporate and government institutions alike recognize that the key to their power is based on the collective opinion of people, and how they will or will not act on that opinion.

With the problems facing the SPD, APCO proves to be the most appropriate choice. While criticism is being leveled by such citizen groups as the People's Coalition for Justice, the ACLU, and the National Lawyers Guild, it makes sense that APCO has also mastered yet another form of PR-Astroturf Organizing, or "corporate activism." In 1996, APCO was responsible for the creation of a phony "grassroots" campaign under the heading of Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, which was a front by corporations that were--surprise--on the receiving end of lawsuits, such as tobacco giant Philip Morris, Brown and Williamson, and other companies. Public Citizen, a group popularized by the current Green presidential candidate Ralph Nader, exposed APCO's creation of another phony front group, the American Tort Reform Association, which was presented as comprised of the "average citizen," but was in fact a corporate front for the chemical, tobacco, pharmaceutical, and auto industries. This is merely a taste of the kind of work that APCO is hired to do for a myriad of corporate causes.

As much of the criticism of the SPD stems from the reactions to last year's WTO demonstrations, it is interesting to note APCO's relationship to the people responsible for bringing WTO to town in the first place. According to a Seattle Times article by Michele Flores in August of 1999, APCO not only provided their services at no cost to the Seattle Host Committee, they also donated 50,000 dollars to the SHO make the ministerial possible. Globalization has produced many crises in the world, and bad policy made by the WTO is a cash cow for PR firms like APCO, who stand to be hired to manage the crisis that follows.

In turning back our focus to the Police Guild, we can begin to see how global institutions affect our daily lives. There is a high distrust of the police, especially in communities of color, in Seattle. The political establishment is divided on how to handle issues around the SPD, with the growing clamor for reform from citizens' groups. The Guild, by hiring a PR firm to change public opinion, rather then changing the nature of how their membership treats the citizens of Seattle, has shown the close relationship of forces used to counter dissent and push the image of the global market.

How will we know if there is a conscious effort to turn public opinion away from criticism of the police in Seattle? One can only speculate, but based on the history of APCO and the PR industry in general, we should expect to see more stories in the media designed to generate fear and encourage reliance on the police, such as more stories about violent criminals running rampant on Seattle streets (especially when there is no actual increase of "crime"). We may see the creation of a phony police "reform" organization stacked with individuals whose interests are to protect the police. We may see more hype on "programs" initiated by the new police chief. And we may even see angry letters in support of the SPD in response to this article, generated by spin control experts whose clients have nothing to fear but the truth.