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
Miramar College’s two-year program arms veterans and working first responders with advanced emergency management skills to move up the ranks
“My 7’03” tall cadet, Jordan, stopped by the station to try on some uniforms. We are going to have to add some material,” Kemah PD Chief Raymond Garivey Jr. said on social media
The Surge Training Operations Center aims to help onboard new DHS personnel by the end of 2025 while continuing to support training for law enforcement partners
Agencies in New York, Houston, Birmingham and San Francisco credit pay raises, outreach and new strategies with boosting academy numbers
Cash payouts may look like a retention solution, but they drain budgets, hurt morale and attract the wrong people
When asked if President Trump had plans to aid in local and state LE staffing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reiterated Trump’s successes in ICE recruitment
The New Jersey Civil Service Commission removed the last 10 questions from a 2019 sergeant exam, saying those questions unfairly lowered scores for Black and Hispanic officers
"[Recruit Officer Jon-Marques Psalms’s] dedication to the city will never be forgotten by his fellow recruit officers, our police department and a grateful city,” Mayor Daniel Lurie said
Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels stated that collecting some pieces of use of force data required by the grant program would be difficult and time consuming
NYPD
“This is proof that people want to be cops again,” Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. “It shows that this profession is back in a big way.”
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