Des Moines Sun

During a Jan. 17 council meeting, Police Chief Chris Scott presented the West Des Moines City Council an Emmy Award for a short video the City made that highlighted community engagement by the police department.

Scott presented the 2022 Upper Midwest Regional Emmy Award in the Short-Form Government Videos category to the council for the four-minute video, which highlights the City's engagement efforts in the community.

"For me, the most rewarding thing, whether it be daily or long term, is did I make a difference today?" Scott said in the video. "You know, we have a calling to do this job, we provide a service to our community, and at the end of the day, did I make a difference in somebody’s life?"

The police chief said the City made the video a priority when creating its strategic plan. The department worked with the Trilix Marketing Group on the production and spent "countless hours" conducting interviews, doing ride-alongs and putting together the final product.

Scott called the production "a huge undertaking" and thanked Assistant Chief Jody Haynes for working diligently on the project, contacting people to do interviews and scheduling all of it. He also thanked Trilix before presenting the award to the council.

The video is approximately four minutes long and can be found on the videographer’s Vimeo page. It showcases several officers talking about the focus of community policing and how their job is both "impossible" and pointless if they are not allied with the members of the community.

The video shows officers going into classrooms and community events and lending a hand to citizens in all aspects of life. The video ends with the officers listing all the reasons they serve—and the mantra "I Serve."