Working in close partnership with the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, Territory supported the development of a refreshed strategic plan in response to new leadership and evolving community expectations. Through a collaborative planning process, the effort clarified the Sheriff’s Office’s mission, values, and priorities, aligning internal teams around shared goals and a common direction. The resulting plan establishes a clear, practical roadmap to guide decision-making, accountability, workforce well-being, and long-term readiness in service of a safe and thriving Multnomah County.

Before we could help MCSO tell a new story about itself, the leadership team had to agree on what that story was. We began where we always do, with listening.

Through a series of structured conversations with the Sheriff and executive team, we surfaced what was already understood, what was assumed, and what was genuinely contested. Priorities like community safety, gun violence reduction, and the response to homelessness were clear at a high level. What was missing was a shared framework that connected those priorities to how the organization actually operates day-to-day.

That gap is where strategic plans usually break down. Closing it meant more than rewriting language. It meant challenging assumptions and asking leaders to commit to a shared mission, vision, and values to which they could hold one another accountable.

Once the direction was aligned, the work shifted to translation. How does a statement of values become a decision someone makes at 2 a.m. on a call? How does a priority become a behavior, a budget line, a conversation with the public?

We worked with MCSO to build the plan around a small set of clear goals, each supported by measurable objectives and practical actions. Rather than overloading the framework with initiatives, we pushed for focus.