Public-Sector Risk Management & Consulting

Baker Sterchi Cowden & Rice provides public-sector consulting services focused on risk management, accountability and defensible decision-making for government agencies and insurers. The service is led by senior lawyers with decades of experience defending public entities in high-stakes litigation and serving in executive leadership roles within public agencies.

For more than 40 years, the firm has defended police practices in litigation involving constitutional, civil rights and operational claims. Building on that experience, our consulting team advises cities, counties and law enforcement agencies on police practices, accountability systems, labor strategy, crisis response and performance measurement. This work is designed to reduce claims exposure, strengthen institutional credibility and position agencies to respond effectively when scrutiny is most intense.

Public agencies operate in a highly visible environment, where decisions are judged not only on outcomes but on whether they were reasonable, transparent and well considered. Effective risk management requires anticipating how decisions will be viewed by the public, the media and oversight bodies.

Our team works closely with agency leadership to design policies, systems and response strategies that support sound decision-making and withstand legal, public and media review. The focus is on ensuring that decisions are clear, documented and credible from the outset.

Our services include:

• Police Practices and Policy Architecture: We design, review and restructure police policies to ensure they are constitutional, realistic and consistent with labor agreements and defensible in litigation and arbitration.
• Training Design and Validation: We advise agencies on training programs that are legally grounded and capable of withstanding scrutiny, including curriculum development, scenario-based training, POST compliance, supervisor training frameworks and training adequacy assessments for litigation defense.
• Metrics and Performance Measurement: We help agencies develop performance metrics that measure meaningful indicators while avoiding misleading or high-risk data practices, including use-of-force analytics, early warning indicators, supervisor performance metrics, risk-based deployment measures and legally vetted dashboards.
• Crisis Response and Critical Incident Management: We provide real-time advisory support during and immediately following critical incidents, including incident command guidance, administrative process compliance, multiagency coordination strategy, media and disclosure risk assessment and post-incident remediation planning.
• Internal Affairs and Investigations: We assist agencies in designing and improving internal affairs systems that are fair, timely and defensible, supporting credibility with both officers and the public, including process audits, investigator training, case review and backlog reduction, discipline matrix design and supervisor accountability systems.
• Labor Negotiations and Union Strategy: We advise public agencies on labor negotiations involving accountability, discipline and modern policing tools, including contract language review, negotiation strategy, discipline and appeal provisions, work-rule reform modeling and past-practice risk analysis.
• Technology and Evidence-Based Policing: We counsel agencies on the responsible and lawful use of policing technology, including body-worn camera programs, use-of-force reporting platforms, early intervention systems, AI and analytics governance, privacy and public records compliance and vendor contract review.
• Executive and Municipal Testimony Preparation: We prepare senior executives and government representatives for testimony by helping them clearly explain government operations and decision-making, support appropriate transparency, present facts and circumstances accurately and reduce overall exposure.

Our consulting services are closely integrated with the firm’s litigation practice. Policies, training and decision-making frameworks are developed with legal defensibility in mind, allowing clients to move seamlessly from proactive risk management to investigation, claims handling and litigation defense when claims or disputes arise.