Content provided by SAFEGUARD Recruiting
The law enforcement profession is in the midst of a historic recruiting crisis. The causes vary, but the outcome is the same: agencies cannot attract enough qualified applicants. Despite a focused effort by leaders, including hiring incentives and high-budget marketing efforts, 65% of departments still report applicant shortages.
I’ve had the privilege of partnering with agencies across the country. After hundreds of recruiting campaigns, it has become clear that successful law enforcement recruiting depends on a sequence of leadership decisions – defining the focus of your recruiting effort, using data to guide strategy, generating qualified leads, removing unnecessary friction from the hiring process and maintaining strong communication with candidates throughout.
Recruiting vs. marketing
Marketing and recruiting are like twins who may look the same but have vastly different personalities. Marketing creates awareness and draws attention to your agency and mission, while recruiting is the deeper work of finding the right people, engaging them meaningfully and guiding them through each stage of the hiring process.
Philadelphia Police Captain John Walker noted that marketing companies often point to high numbers of impressions as evidence of success. In his case, after more than four million impressions, applications actually declined. As Walker explains, recruiting is about conversions and people, not just visibility. When the department shifted its focus to identifying and engaging the right candidates (a “recruiting-first” philosophy), it began to meet and exceed its hiring goals for each academy class. That improvement started with a data-driven approach.
Data, data, data
I often say law enforcement recruiting is a numbers game, but good leaders are looking at the meaning behind those numbers. It’s important to know how many recruits are needed and the current attrition rate, but to achieve and maintain full staffing, leaders must have a clear picture of the entire recruiting process.
One of the most important questions is how many potential candidates are needed to produce a single qualified hire. Answering requires knowing two things:
- How many potential candidates does it take to get an applicant?
- How many applicants does it take to hire a highly qualified officer?
I can’t state the importance of this enough. Without these data points, law enforcement recruiting is just guesswork, both in resources and time. Answering these questions allows you to focus your recruiting effort and make decisions with precision. You’ll be able to quickly highlight your strengths and expose your weaknesses as you prepare to generate leads.
Identify and reach the right candidates
Once leaders understand the data behind their recruiting efforts, the next step is to get in front of enough qualified candidates. Agencies have traditionally relied on job fairs and broad, general marketing, but these methods often reach large numbers of people who have little interest in or aptitude for the profession. Effective lead generation focuses on identifying where the right candidates are and reaching them with a message that resonates.
The Asheville Police Department in North Carolina had invested heavily in traditional marketing, yet staffing continued to fall behind due to retirements and resignations. By shifting their efforts to a specific targeted outreach across the internet and focusing on individuals most likely to pursue careers in law enforcement, Asheville doubled the size of its academy and began making steady progress toward full staffing.
Remove the friction
One of the most effective ways to strengthen a recruiting effort is to remove the friction that causes candidates to drop out. The hiring process can already feel long and complex, so leaders should work to eliminate avoidable barriers that make it harder for applicants to stay engaged.
Muscle Shoals, Alabama Police Chief Clint Reck had built a strong culture within his agency, yet applicant numbers remained low. He discovered candidates were required to visit City Hall and complete an application in person. After the agency replaced that step with a simple mobile-friendly form, applications increased immediately.
Hagerstown, Maryland Lieutenant Rebecca Fetchu faced a different challenge. Her department’s application was already available online, but many candidates were not completing the required steps before testing. By posting clear instructions on the agency website and communicating with applicants more consistently, both the number and quality of candidates improved.
Maintain communication
Law enforcement agencies can no longer afford to waste opportunities with qualified applicants. Even strong candidates may disengage or move on if they do not receive timely and meaningful communication throughout the hiring process.
Hagerstown, Maryland Lieutenant Rebecca Fetchu saw significant improvement when her agency began communicating more regularly with applicants and providing clear instructions at each step. In Colorado, Larimer County Sergeant Seth Graham has taken a similar approach, revolutionizing his department’s recruiting by using law enforcement applicant tracking software to organize his candidates and send timely messages with just a few clicks.
Build and sustain the levels you need
I have seen firsthand what agencies can accomplish when leaders focus on the core elements of effective recruiting. A clear recruiting approach, meaningful use of data, targeted outreach, removing friction from the hiring process and consistent communication all help agencies build and sustain the staffing levels they need.
SAFEGUARD Recruiting COO Doug Larsen has helped these agencies and many others apply these principles since 2021, drawing on his 30 years in law enforcement to guide leaders through the decisions that most directly influence staffing. Larsen emphasizes that leadership decisions in the recruiting process have consequences far beyond hiring. As he explains, “when leaders improve the way they recruit, staffing stabilizes, and two of the most difficult challenges they face, overtime costs and response times, become far more manageable.”
To learn more, visit SAFEGUARD Recruiting.
