Police Recruitment
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. The Police Recruitment topic page explores how agencies are modernizing recruitment, with practical insights for leaders navigating staffing shortages, community expectations and the realities of building a sustainable workforce.
Personnel shortages can have serious consequences – a more agile process can help reduce them
The agencies that invest in recruitment and retention strategies will be the ones that build strong, dedicated teams for the future
With proper oversight, training and legal structures, this partnership has the potential to enhance public safety without eroding trust or accountability
Union leaders expressed gratitude for city leadership’s “strategic investment” in rebuilding the LAPD with benefits in its new contract
Police and city leaders are working to outsource “minor” calls to free up officers’ schedules, as well as creating new wellness programs for them
“We’re looking for folks to interact with the public on quality-of-life issues,” Public Safety Chief Karrie Howard told council members
The department will have recruiting tables set up at each of the team’s three December home games
Miller Mendel, Inc. is the only known SOC-2-certified company specifically designed for managing public safety pre-employment background investigations
The lawsuit was filed by three academy graduates from 2017 and 2018 on behalf of their whole classes
Departments often call Penn Highlands Police Academy, asking if any soon-to-be graduates are ready for jobs and offering pay incentives
The move will result in an estimated decrease of officers to about 29,000 by 2025
“We’re not poaching anyone,” Sgt. Clarence Tosh said, “because no one wants to do this job right now.”
State law requires that the raises be calculated based on the base salaries, retirement benefits and add-ons of five other departments
The move would give the department chief more discretion to fill, change or leave vacant officer shifts and respond to department needs
The union claims the city had “ample time” to pay up; the union said they are calculating individual back pay for each of the 8,800 sworn officers
Recruits will go through 12 weeks of field training, which is “desperately needed because the department is getting younger and younger,” Superintendent Cheryl Clapprood said
“It’s important for us to be able to show that we’re being innovative, we’re using new recruiting techniques — things that set us aside from other agencies,” Sgt. Todd Grager said
The state has given more than 3,350 bonuses to new or newly transferred officers since the program’s launch
A recruitment report will suggest initiating high school and college pipeline programs, as well as modernizing the recruitment process for faster onboarding
Successful recruitment in the 21st century requires an authentic approach to connect with each candidate instead of following a checklist of things to do and incentives to offer
On-demand webinar: Old challenges, new solutions: Using technology for police recruitment and hiring
Current trends and what the future holds
The Lafayette PD uses technology like video game engines to train on consequence management, drones in the sky and a digital coaching platform
In an effort to fill vacancies, city officials gave dispatcher salaries a boost in July; as a result, the PD hired 26 new dispatchers
The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office would also have retention bonuses of $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000, based upon years of service, as well as a $5,000 new hire incentive
“Big thanks to Shaq for his continued support for law enforcement and spending time with his old police department. It was great to see him back in our uniform!” the Port Police said
The incentives to join the Antioch PD are structured over five years, with $15,000 paid upfront along with other incentives as a way to recruit officers
Cadets will receive a pay bump from $16 to $24 an hour; the city will also offer incentives to cadets who either graduated from college or served in the military
An advisory council suggested reducing the time requirement for a recruit to not have consumed marijuana within 12 months and three years for drugs
“The harsh reality is, I don’t want to be the guy working 80 hours a week just running this PD, being on call 24 hours a day,” Chief Smith said
The increase will make the starting salary for a police officer in North Charleston at $56,078
The city’s $1.189 billion police budget allows for 9,300 officers; the department currently has 8,995 officers
The contract would boost annual starting pay for LAPD recruits from $74,000 to around $86,000
Police officers, firefighters and 911 specialists can get up to a $2,500 tax credit if they live in the city of Annapolis
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