From attracting qualified candidates and telling an authentic agency story to streamlining hiring processes and building long-term career pathways, departments are rethinking how they recruit and retain the next generation of officers. Police Recruitment Week explores how agencies are modernizing recruitment, with practical insights for leaders navigating staffing shortages, community expectations and the realities of building a sustainable workforce.
What the data and the field reveal about where agencies lose candidates and how to keep them
FEATURED CONTENT
A practical, agency-wide framework that turns every sworn and civilian employee into an active recruiting force
Agencies relying on bonuses and short-term tactics may see temporary gains but lasting staffing stability comes from strategies that improve retention, reputation and community trust
A customized childcare model built for law enforcement families aims to improve retention, boost morale and deliver measurable return on investment
Integrating civilians, structured internet sleuth programs, artificial intelligence and regional partnerships may be the key to sustaining clearance rates in the 21st century
Facing staffing shortages and rising complexity, departments like Atlanta are expanding civilian leadership and professional staff roles to stabilize operations, modernize capabilities and relieve pressure on sworn officers
From paperwork to people skills, seasoned cops offer hard-earned advice for the next generation
If you’re losing applicants, stretching hiring timelines or watching academy classes shrink, this guide outlines what agencies are doing to rebuild their staffing pipeline
COMPLETE COVERAGE
S.B. 641 will “repeal the statutory limit on the number of police,” allowing the Pennsylvania State Police to “hire the number of troopers that they see fit,” State Sen. Marty Flynn said
Fixing policing’s future starts with fixing its leaders
Wellness
The Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office’s 4/8/40 schedule pays deputies for working four 10-hour shifts, while they can use 2 hours per shift to work out, go to counseling or do other activities
“There’s a lot to being a police officer — more than what you see on TV,” Aurora Police Captain Justin Shipley said. “But they absorb it all, and they’re excited to get out here”
“We’re so short-handed, we worry about [patrol officers’] abilities mentally and physically,” Muskogee Police Chief Johnnie Teehee said
LAPD’s recruitment campaign targets adults 21–35 with ads on Instagram, Twitch, Reddit and LA billboards
The contract will include a wage increase of 18% and fixes an ongoing problem where some sergeants were getting paid less than seasoned officers under their command
More than 1,400 of the agency’s 10,000 jobs sat empty, and more than 900 were held by people out on leave; last year, deputies worked more than 4.3 million hours of overtime
On April 7, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed Senate Bill 364, which allows people with work authorization from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to serve as LEOs
The Fort Gaines town council voted to combine the city’s law enforcement coverage with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office because the city cannot fund a police department
ABOUT THE SPONSOR: eSOPH by Miller Mendel
With a primary focus of turning past practices used by city, county, state and federal government agencies into modern, efficient, and cost-effective digital solutions, Miller Mendel (MMI) has been creating category-leading systems since 2011.
eSOPH by Miller Mendel is a secure, cloud-based, pre-employment background investigation software system designed specifically for public safety agencies. Used by hundreds of agencies nationwide, eSOPH has been credited with cutting the time it takes to process a pre-employment background investigation by up to 50%, saving agencies significant time, money, and resources without sacrificing investigation quality.
eSOPH by Miller Mendel is a secure, cloud-based, pre-employment background investigation software system designed specifically for public safety agencies. Used by hundreds of agencies nationwide, eSOPH has been credited with cutting the time it takes to process a pre-employment background investigation by up to 50%, saving agencies significant time, money, and resources without sacrificing investigation quality.
How to use recruitment messaging and leverage new technology to attract, hire, onboard and retain top talent