Kane County Sheriff’s Office Administrative Director Pat Gengler will be among the featured speakers at a Feb. 23 Northern Illinois Newspaper Association workshop that explores how law enforcers and the media can work together to better serve the public.

The workshop, co-sponsored by NINA and the Northern Illinois University Department of Communication, is set for 8:30 a.m. to noon Thursday, Feb. 23, in Room 100 of the Campus Life Building at the northeast corner of Normal Road and Lucinda Avenue on the NIU campus. The cost is $25 for non-NINA members, $20 for NINA members and free for students.

Deadline to RSVP to the event is Feb. 16. To RSVP, contact Shelley Hendricks at shendricks@niu.edu or 815-753-4239.

The workshop will be of special interest to news-media, court officials and law-enforcement professionals but also will be of value to students pursuing those fields.

The program is titled “Working the Beat” and will feature two sessions.

The first will examine the relationship between small-town law enforcement officials and media. Local and regional news-media experts will offer tips on how to get the information their readers expect and deserve without harming the integrity of an investigation. The featured guest is Don Thomas, who served 13 years as police chief in Sycamore and who has 24 years of experience with the St. Charles Police Department.

The second session is titled “Good Cop, Good Reporter,” and will explore the changing role of the public information officer and how those changes affect reporting. Gengler and moderator Dan Campana will explore the importance of relationship building, the effects of social media on the dissemination of news and information and offer tips on how to improve the reporting of police news.

Gengler is a 21-year member of the Kane County Sheriff’s Office, where he is presently the director of administration and FOIA officer.

• EDITOR’S NOTE: Kane County Outreach Coordinator Rick Nagel is a member of the NINA board.