Modern policing is shaped by rapid change — from the growth of artificial intelligence to evolving community expectations, workforce challenges and the call for greater transparency. In this environment, officers need more than rules to guide them. Policies provide structure, but what truly inspires pride, purpose, and trust are stories.
Storytelling gives police leaders a powerful way to connect organizational values with daily practices, strengthen culture, and build confidence within their agencies and the communities they serve.
Putting storytelling into practice
To understand the power of storytelling in policing, it helps to look at the different ways it can shape values, identity, culture and leadership in daily practice.
Humanizing the values
Departments can talk endlessly about courage, fairness, or empathy, but those words remain abstract until they are animated by lived experiences. The story of an officer who chose patience, distance, dialogue and empathy over force to resolve a mental health crisis says more about “humanity” than any PowerPoint slide ever could. [1]
When told well, stories don’t just inform — they inspire. They make aspirational values tangible, relatable and repeatable. Over time, they can shape how people think, act and lead.
Bridging policy and identity
Officers shouldn’t see themselves as mere policy enforcers. Instead, they should be seen as stewards of the department’s mission and values. Storytelling helps officers connect everyday moments of policing to these larger ideals. When leaders ask, “What story does this decision tell us about who we are?”, they are moving the conversation beyond compliance to character.
Normalizing vulnerability and growth
Police culture often discourages vulnerability. Officers often fear that admitting mistakes or expressing doubt signals weakness. Storytelling, especially when modeled by leaders, can normalize reflection and growth. By modeling the behavior to share stories of failure, learning and resilience, leaders create psychological safety [2] and encourage officers to view mistakes as opportunities for growth, not shame.
Creating shared cultural memory
When agencies circulate values-based stories in briefings, newsletters, videos, or trainings, they embed those values into the “cultural code” of the organization. Over time, these narratives begin to form a shared memory that guides future behaviors even when supervisors aren’t present. [3]
Operationalizing storytelling
Turning storytelling into a cultural force requires more than occasional anecdotes. It must be embedded into the daily rhythm of the department so that these stories become the way values are reinforced, lessons are captured, and identity is lived. Leaders can make this happen by focusing on four deliberate practices:
Capture stories at every level
Values-based stories are everywhere — in patrol encounters, dispatch calls, community meetings and even quiet acts of peer support. Create simple ways for personnel to capture them: a quick voice memo after a shift, a mobile form with prompts like “Tell us about a moment when you saw one of our values in action.” The easier it is to collect stories, the more authentic and representative they become.
Celebrate the right stories, in real time
Don’t wait for award ceremonies or annual reports. Share stories that embody the agency’s values during roll call, debriefs and staff meetings. Highlight them in newsletters, social media, podcasts, or short videos. Symbolic recognition such as story challenge coins, commendations, or digital badges, can be used to reinforce not just the action, but the narrative that defines “who we are” as an organization.
Train leaders to be narrative stewards
Supervisors and command staff shape organizational culture every day through the stories they tell and endorse. Equip them to move beyond “war stories” from the past and instead emphasize aspirational stories that connect to aspired values. In debriefs, ask reflective questions such as: “Which of our values did we live out today?” or “What did this incident teach us about our mission?” By modeling humility and reflection, leaders give permission for others to do the same.
Use technology to scale and sustain
Technology can organize, stylize and distribute stories across platforms, from internal apps to AI to social media. Participation can even be gamified. For example, officers who contribute meaningful stories might earn professional development credits, wellness points, or public recognition. Technology can ensure that stories, once captured, don’t just fade after being told once but instead become part of a searchable, shareable cultural library that can be used in training exercises.
When these practices are aligned with organizational values, storytelling becomes more than communication — it becomes the “living archive” of the agency’s values, shaping decisions and future behaviors long after the story is first told.
Guarding against the wrong stories
As police leaders, we must also be mindful that the cultural power of stories cuts both ways. Cynical tales, unhealthy norms, or narratives that normalize poor practices can spread quickly. Leaders must actively manage the narrative landscape, amplifying the right stories and intervening when counterproductive ones surface. Culture follows the stories leaders choose to honor, and leaders must ensure the ones that are honored are aligned with organizational values. [4]
Conclusion
Storytelling is more than communication, it is a timeless, human strategy to drive cultural transformation. By elevating what matters most and embedding values into daily practice, leaders can accelerate trust, strengthen organizational identity, and renew a shared sense of purpose.
Policies provide important structure, but it is through values-based identities — consistently lived and modeled — that agencies build legitimacy, earn public trust, and give officers deeper meaning in their work. [5]
The future of policing will be shaped not only by the policies we uphold, but by the stories we choose to tell, honor, remember, and retell. The responsibility and the opportunity rests with today’s leaders to start telling the right stories now.
References
- Improving Police. The power of telling a story – Improving Police. Improving Police Blog. Published March 14, 2018.
- Remtulla R, Das JK, Chugh S, et al. Exploring the barriers and facilitators of psychological safety in healthcare settings. BMC Health Serv Res. 2021;21(1).
- van Hülst M. Towards an organizational folklore of policing: The storied nature of policing and the police use of storytelling. Policing Soc. 2021.
- Toronto Police Service. 6 culture change. Our Action Plan.
- Lestrange JJ. Values based leadership 2.0: A multi method study toward the development of a theoretical framework for global leaders [dissertation]. Virginia Beach, VA: Regent University; 2022. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
