Matthew Rogers

LEPS 560: Module 7

Rethinking Recruitment, Retention, and Progression

The past few years have been particularly challenging to law enforcement and have led to

introspection both out of necessity and at the demands of the public. From Michael Brown in

2014 to George Floyd in 2020, public pressure on law enforcement to change has never been

higher. While concerns regarding use of force and community relationships are topics worth

addressing head-on, no topic is more relevant to the future of policing than that of recruitment

and retention of qualified police officers. The Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) called

the staffing situation a “crisis” in 2019, which surely was not a beneficiary of the tumultuous

summer of 2020 following the death of George Floyd (Police Executive Research Forum, 2019).

In order for law enforcement to best serve its citizens in the way they deserve, the very way law

enforcement recruits and evaluates their personnel must evolve. I am proposing an change in

approach to the traditional recruitment methods and a challenge to administration to re-evaluate

how we train and evaluate employees in order to better identify positive change agents (Pascale

& Sternin, 2005).

The Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) identified a “triple threat” of staffing

issues on a national level: Fewer qualified applicants were applying for the career, more people

were leaving than being hired, and there was a looming retirement bubble from the 1990’s hired

personnel. Not only are agencies seeing far fewer applicants than before, but the most qualified

applicants who are best equipped for today’s policing are being lured to other professions (Police

Executive Research Forum, 2019). Those hiring pools once considered “traditional”, such as

police families or those with military experience, we no longer considering law enforcement as a

career path. The once-plentiful well of young talent was now dry; the time is nigh to drill a new

well.
 I am recommending a complete overhaul of what is considered a traditional hiring

approach. In the past, law enforcement agencies found themselves with more applicants than

they knew what to do with. Now, some agencies are reporting decreases in applications of 41%

or more over the past decade alone (Mallory, 2019). Standard barriers to entry include credit

scores, low pay in comparison to other professions, and a high attrition rate (Roufa, 2018). No

longer can law enforcement act as the machine it once was; the machine is running out of

replacement cogs and parts from the current box it’s looking in (Morgan, 2006). I am suggesting

a recruitment blitzkrieg on local high schools, universities, athletic programs, career fairs, and

community colleges as well as a joint advertising blitz on local news media and social media.

This request is multi-faceted and requires two major changes. One, the messaging focus

needs to be on a culture of service, rather than advertisements akin to an action movie (Fritsvold

& Tolbert, 2021). While thoroughly exciting to consider a career where working with canines or

jumping out of helicopters is a daily possibility, the reality of the job is extraordinarily different.

The larger issue is that the advertisements miss their mark; the most appetizing element for new

hires has remained an opportunity to serve others, which is remarkably absent in current

advertisement media (Police Executive Research Forum, 2019). The culture of the younger

crowd has also changed. Employees today demand to be brought into decision making processes

and seek opportunities to learn and grow (Grow, 2007). New applicants seek the feel of the

human touch, an organism which can learn and grow, rather than the cold, calculated world of a

machine they could easily find elsewhere in corporate America for much higher pay (Morgan,

2006). The world has changed, and so has law enforcement, and yet recruitment methods are still

trapped in the 1980’s in the world of explosions, slow-motion gunfights, and high speed chases.

The second major change is in relation to finding new applicant pools. Traditionally, law

enforcement feasted on those with prior military experience and those from law enforcement
families (Police Executive Research Forum, 2019). This leads to a narrow applicant pool and a

humongous, untapped labor pool in young, educated individuals who are looking for a career

path. It can be beneficial for all to proactively recruit at high schools, community colleges,

universities and in particular their sports programs. First, these individuals tend to be younger

and more able to complete the physical requirements of the background process (Roman, 2020).

Second, those in team sports may be more prone to team-based thinking and mentality, which is

exceptionally important in law enforcement and fostering an attitude of service for others.

Finally, this untapped group of individuals may be more reflective of the communities they serve

as a whole. For example, a community college in a nearby city may serve as an important cross-

section of that community’s demographics (Fritsvold & Tolbert, 2021). Today’s golden standard

is to diversify the profession to closely reflect the community it serves; what better way than to

recruit locally and fill the local law enforcement ranks with home-grown talent familiar with the

area and the people they serve (Roman, 2020). Additionally, recruitment efforts in these local

markets may encourage an increase in minority or female applicants who are sorely

misrepresented in the profession; women comprise of nearly 51% of this country and yet only

12% of law enforcement nationally (Policing Project , 2021). Of course, this is only effective is

the messaging vehicle is different: law enforcement is about service to others, and to the

community. Advertising the opportunity to serve others as well as extra benefits such as pension,

insurance, and college incentives or tuition reimbursement could encourage those who may have

been undecided about college or furthering their education.

To compete with the private sector, agencies must make significant changes to their

priorities in both training and how promotions are considered. Previously, law enforcement

worked as a complicated machine filled with political roadblocks and a stiff political culture

(Morgan, 2006). Today, the field is forced to adapt and change to work around the roadblocks
and evolve with the community expectations. This means a career of lifelong learning and

training is paramount to keep up with the ever-evolving world of legal changes and expectations.

Law enforcement, at its roots, will stay the same: police officers protect those who cannot protect

themselves. However, there is a change that must occur to add to the officers’ identity and not

change it outright (Fritsvold & Collins). In this newer guardian approach, the change must

appear from within or risk the rank and file attacking the new idea (Pascale & Sternin, 2005).

This requires an emphasis on training, and with it, a much larger training budget. Officers should

be highly encouraged to seek external training and be supported in their efforts. Furthermore,

education must be incentivized, much like the military, and departments needs to support their

expectations with action: tuition reimbursement must be a national standard. With incentives

such as tuition reimbursement, the profession is more appealing for those on the bubble with

furthering their education, officers will feel invested in, and therefore, more appreciated (Police

Executive Research Forum, 2019). Moreover, the community benefits with a well-educated

group of officers serving them.

With the new expectations comes a new scope of what it means to be effective: leaders

must be prepared to interview their organizations and find who their change agents are (Pascale

& Sternin, 2005). Gone are the days where arrest statistics determine your best “leaders” in the

organization. Administration is now tasked with not only finding new applicant pools, but they

are tasked with finding new leaders in new places; the unsung heroes who have the respect of

their peers and hold the keys to lasting change. Then, and only then, will law enforcement be

able to find, hire, and retain the best talent available for a profession which not only sorely needs

it, but demands it.

Works Cited
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