The biggest risks facing municipalities aren’t always the ones leaders can see. This fireside chat explores the hidden risks that can quietly accumulate inside municipal organizations and what happens when these hidden risks become active risks.
Using off-duty policing as an opening case study, we explore how routine practices, organizational silos, outdated assumptions, and oversight gaps can create legal, operational, reputational, and public-trust consequences long before anyone recognizes a problem.
Webinar Details
📅 Date: October 29, 2026
🕑 Time: 4:00–5:00 p.m. EDT (50 min presentation + 10 min Q&A)
📍 Location: Virtual – link provided after registration
What You’ll Learn
How seemingly routine municipal practices can conceal significant legal, operational, reputational, and public-trust risk
Why longstanding policies and “the way we’ve always done it” can create organizational blind spots
How fragmented responsibility across departments can allow risks to grow without anyone seeing the whole picture
Practical ways leaders can identify and interrogate hidden vulnerabilities before they become public crises
Why the absence of past failure doesn’t necessarily mean a system is working—or that it is prepared for what comes next
Who Should Attend
City and county managers, administrators, and executive leaders
Elected and appointed municipal officials
Police chiefs, sheriffs, and public safety executives
Municipal attorneys, risk managers, and human resources leaders
Communications, public affairs, and public information professionals
Department directors and other leaders responsible for municipal operations, policy, and oversight
About the Presenters
Dr. Eric Kowalczyk and Sean Smoot bring decades of experience helping public-sector organizations identify, manage, and communicate through complex risk. Eric, CEO of Connection Point, is a nationally recognized crisis communications strategist who has guided municipalities, public safety agencies, and organizations through civil unrest, natural disasters, large-scale emergencies, and reputation-defining events. Sean, Managing Partner of 21CP Solutions, is an internationally recognized policing and public safety expert, attorney, former member of President Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, and Chairman of the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board. Together, they bring complementary communications, legal, operational, and public-safety perspectives to the risks municipal leaders may not recognize until something goes wrong.
Dr. J. Eric Kowalczyk is a nationally recognized crisis communications strategist, author, and public speaker. As the CEO of Connection Point, Eric has guided municipalities, law enforcement agencies, and nonprofits through high-stakes situations, including natural disasters, civil unrest, and large-scale emergencies. His methodology and crisis communication framework have been adopted by leaders nationwide.
Sean Smoot is an internationally recognized subject-matter expert on policing and public safety and the Managing Partner of 21CP Solutions. Sean served as a police and public safety advisor to the Obama-Biden Presidential Transition Teams and as a Member of President Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. He also was part of the Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government from 2008 to 2014. Appointed by Governor J.B. Pritzker in 2020, Sean has served as Chairman of the Illinois Commission on Police Professionalism since 2023. He has appeared on CNN, C-SPAN, and several national news affiliates discussing critical issues in modern policing.