Responding To The Staffing Crisis: Innovations in Recruitment and Retention
Responding To The Staffing Crisis: Innovations in Recruitment and Retention
Responding To The Staffing Crisis: Innovations in Recruitment and Retention
August 2023
This publication was supported by the Motorola Solutions Foundation. The points of
view expressed herein are the authors’ and do not necessarily represent the opinions of
the Motorola Solutions Foundation or all Police Executive Research Forum members.
ISBN: 978-1-934485-70-5
Not long ago, law enforcement agencies emerged in police recruitment and retention. That
typically received more than 100 applications for trend continued and the challenges increased over
every open position. Sorting through all the appli- the tumultuous 2020-2022 period, as the findings
cations was a much greater concern than trying to from PERF member questionnaires show:
recruit more applicants. Even if the hiring process • Officer retirements and resignations have
took many months and applied highly exclusion- increased. Sixty-five percent of agencies reported
ary eligibility criteria, agencies still had more than an increase in retirements between 2020 and
enough qualified applicants willing and able to stick 2022, and 66 percent reported an increase in
it out to have a chance to become a cop. resignations.
Those who made it entered their rookie years • Applications for open officer positions have
expecting to “pay their dues” through tough assign- decreased. Sixty-nine percent of agencies saw a
ments in exchange for a well-respected job where drop in the number of applications for full-time
they could build a long career. Meanwhile, agency officer positions between 2020 and 2022.
leaders could reasonably expect these new officers
to spend those long careers in their department, • Officer staffing levels are dropping. Overall
where they would build valuable experience, officer staffing levels fell by 4.8 percent between
reinforce the organization’s culture, and add stability January 2020 and January 2023.
to the agency’s staffing levels.
Many agencies attribute the bulk of their
Today, most agencies face an increasingly recruitment and retention challenges to a combina-
urgent staffing crisis that is very different from tion of souring public perceptions of the policing
“the way things used to be.” profession, generational shifts in the values and
When PERF began examining this issue in expectations of younger workers, and changes
2018, a clear and worrying trend had already in police roles and responsibilities. Increasing
Next to violent crime, this is the most important thing that all of us are
facing. We’re facing it in our large departments, small departments,
mid-sized departments, urban, suburban, and rural. We all are dealing
with the same thing, because we’re all competing for a small number of
qualified applicants.
Commissioner Michael Harrison, Baltimore (MD) Police Department
and President of PERF
Fortunately, the interactions among these four for example, combined many of the required
components (agency operations, recruitment, reten- tests and screenings into a single coordinated
tion, and community relations) can also benefit event that enabled applicants to go from com-
agencies, and many agencies are improving polic- pleting an application to receiving a conditional
ing by committing to strategies that span the four offer of employment in the same day.
components. The Prince William County (VA) Police
This report describes a number of such strate- Department completely overhauled its recruit-
gies. The following overall guidance, which previews ment and hiring practices to improve recruit-
some of these approaches, lists ten ways in which ment and build a department that mirrored the
agencies can address their staffing challenges and demographics of the community. Among other
strengthen themselves overall. changes, the department updated and clarified
its hiring guidelines and then posted them on
1. Re-examine hiring processes. The inefficient its website; reduced the personal history state-
and exclusionary hiring practices that agencies ment from 31 pages to nine; created targeted
relied on when they were flooded with applica- ads on Instagram and other social media plat-
tions are no longer viable now that applications forms; and strengthened recruiting at women’s
have slowed. Further, those processes shut out colleges, Historically Black Colleges and
promising non-traditional applicants and drive Universities (HBCUs), and Hispanic-Serving
away many younger workers — two groups that Institutions. As a result, while previously about
agencies must make greater efforts to attract. In 16 percent of the department’s academy classes
many areas it can take eight months or more to were female and about 40 percent were from
hire an officer, which is simply too long. underrepresented groups, those figures have
risen to 24 percent and 70 percent, respectively.
A number of agencies are taking steps to
make their application process simpler and Some agencies are also taking steps to move
faster. For example, the Battle Creek (MI) Police recruits into the academy more quickly rather
Department adopted an application that allows than having them wait many months for the
interested candidates to enter basic informa- next academy to begin. For example, the Okla-
tion, ensure they meet the requirements, and homa City (OK) Police Department has begun
then connect directly to the agency recruiters running smaller academies on a regular and
via text or call to ask questions. The department more frequent schedule, setting up logistics so
two staggered cohorts go through the academy
received over 95 applications in 90 days after
at the same time.
making this change, compared to 9 applications
using its traditional recruiting methods.
2. Adopt innovative recruiting strategies. Some
Other departments are using assessment agencies are using social media — including
centers or specialized hiring events to integrate light-hearted and entertaining TikTok videos,
and streamline the recruiting and hiring pro- Instagram posts, and Facebook pages — to
cesses. The Rockville (MD) Police Department, reach a younger, more diverse audience. The
Member Questionnaire
To develop a questionnaire that would most accurately capture the current challenges of recruiting
and retention, PERF conducted a review of the research and considered the data collection
conducted for PERF’s 2019 report on the topic.1 PERF drafted a questionnaire that built upon the
questionnaire used in that report. This draft was pilot-tested with two police leaders, Chief Peter
Newsham of the Prince William County (VA) Police Department and Chief Jeffrey Mori of the
Vancouver (Canada) Police Department; their feedback was used to improve the final questionnaire.
PERF emailed the final questionnaire in October 2022 to police chiefs and other PERF
members who are heads of their agencies, for a total of 1,068 potential respondents. This sampling
methodology paralleled the methodology used for the 2019 report questionnaire. The October 2022
questionnaire had a response rate of 25 percent, with 266 completed questionnaires.
1. Police Executive Research Forum, “The Workforce Crisis, and What Police Agencies Are Doing About It,”
September 2019, https://www.policeforum.org/assets/WorkforceCrisis.pdf.
National Conference
On November 3, 2022 PERF held a conference
titled, “Innovations in Recruitment and Retention
to Meet Tomorrow’s Challenges,” in Washington,
DC. Approximately 275 stakeholders from over
120 agencies attended. Although PERF set the
agenda for the meeting, provided preliminary
findings from its questionnaire to illustrate
national trends, and showed video and media
clips to give voice to these trends, PERF relied on
conference participants to share their first-hand
knowledge about programs and strategies they
are using to address the staffing crisis.
Representatives from law enforcement agencies
PERF used information from the conference,
across the country gather in Washington, DC, for
PERF’s meeting on recruitment and retention.
along with the findings from the questionnaires
and interviews, to develop this report.
2. The states not represented are Alaska, Hawai’i, Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South
Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
3. For the most recent (2022) survey, see MissionSquare Research Institute, “State and Local Workforce 2022,” June 2022,
https://slge.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/2022workforce.pdf.
10 — Section 1: Understanding the Police Staffing Crisis Police Executive Research Forum
Data from recent PERF member surveys tell a overall,” Colonel Matt Langer of Minnesota State
similar story: Patrol reported.
• Applications fell for most law enforcement • Officer retirements and resignations have
agencies from 2020 to 2022. A PERF survey continued to increase. Roughly two-thirds of
in October 2022 found that more than twice as agencies responding to PERF’s October 2022
many agencies reported a decrease in applications survey reported an increase in retirements
as those reporting no change or an increase. (See between 2020 and 2022, and two-thirds reported
Figure 3.) an increase in resignations. (See Figure 4.)
In addition to receiving fewer applications Results from an April 2023 PERF survey give
overall, several agencies told PERF that they are a sense of the size of those increases. Agencies
finding fewer candidates they consider well quali- reported a 19 percent increase in retirements
fied to be officers than in the past. “We have had between 2019 and 2022 and a 47 percent increase
a hard time growing our workforce to fill funded in resignations, with many officers resigning to
positions, as well as recruiting quality candidates leave the profession entirely.4
Figure 3: How did the number of Figure 4: How did full-time sworn
applicants for full-time sworn positions retirements and resignations change
change between 2020 and 2022? between 2020 and 2022?
Stayed
the Same 34%
14% 30%
Decreased
69%
4%
1%
Percentage of Agencies Reporting the Decreased Stayed Increased
Number of Applicants for Full-Time Sworn the Same
Positions Decreased, Stayed the Same, or
Increased
Percentage of Agencies Reporting Full-
Note: N=244. This figure is lower than the total 266 agency Time Sworn Retirements and Resignations
questionnaires collected because 22 agencies elected not
to answer the question or answered “not sure.”
Decreased, Stayed the Same, or Increased
Source: PERF Member Questionnaire on Recruitment and
Retention, October 2022 Note: N=254 for retirements, 246 for resignations. These
figures are lower than the total 266 agency questionnaires
collected because some agencies elected not to answer the
question or answered “not sure.”
Source: PERF Member Questionnaire on Recruitment and
Retention, October 2022
4. Police Executive Research Forum, “New PERF survey shows police agencies are losing officers faster than they can hire new ones,”
April 1, 2023, https://www.policeforum.org/staffing2023.
Police Executive Research Forum Section 1: Understanding the Police Staffing Crisis — 11
• Staffing is declining as officers leave faster The police staffing crisis is affecting profes-
than they are replaced. Fifty-five percent sional staff less than sworn officers. Only 33 percent
of agencies responding to the October 2022 of agencies said the number of their professional
survey indicated their full-time sworn personnel personnel declined between 2020 and 2022. Most
declined between 2020 and 2022. respondents said their professional staffing levels
either stayed the same or increased. (See Figure 5.)
Overall sworn staffing levels fell by 4.8 per-
cent between January 2020 and January 2023, the
April 2023 survey found.5 Staffing Crisis Has Several Causes
For each new officer joining a department in Some of the staffing challenges that law enforce-
2019, an average of 0.86 officers would leave. Just ment agencies now face are affecting public-sector
one year later, the flow of officers reversed, with employers generally, while others are specific to
1.29 officers leaving their agency for each officer policing.
who joined in 2020.
5. Ibid.
12 — Section 1: Understanding the Police Staffing Crisis Police Executive Research Forum
Strong Job Market Policing is vulnerable to competition from other
industries because it provides valuable work experi-
A growing economy, low unemployment, and ence and because many agencies invest heavily in
increasing options for remote work have made it professional development and education opportu-
easier for job seekers and current officers to find nities for their officers. While these are necessary
attractive employment opportunities outside of aspects of maintaining a modern police force, they
policing. These same challenges are affecting hiring can also make officers attractive candidates for other
in other public-sector organizations as well. types of employment. As Chief of Staff Marvin
Over the past three years, hiring has become Haiman of the Metropolitan (DC) Police Depart-
more difficult for many types of public-service roles. ment explained:
The previously mentioned survey that found 78
“We have a very well-educated workforce that
percent of police organizations had trouble filling
has a variety of career options. Individuals
positions in 2022 also found similar results for engi-
have found options with greater flexibility,
neering (78 percent) and nursing (83 percent).6 The
telework options, and more normal schedules.
armed forces have also struggled to maintain suf-
Since we had a large influx of hires between
ficient staffing, with the U.S. Army missing its 2022
2017-2019, most serve about 3 years until
recruitment goals by 25 percent (15,000 soldiers).
they decide to leave again.”
Army Secretary Christine Wormuth explained the
reasons for the shortfall: In PERF’s survey, two-thirds of agen-
cies reported at least some of their officers left
“We’re competing for talent just like all the
law enforcement altogether after resigning (see
folks in industry are, and the job market is
Figure 6).
hot right now. Wages have gone up a lot, and
that’s great for Americans, but it’s making it
harder for us in the Army to compete.” 7
Figure 6: Resigning Officers Most Commonly Leave Police Departments for the Following
Percentage of Agencies That Reported Officers Resigning Starting in 2020 Most Commonly
Resign for Specified Positions
Note: N=252. Each agency could pick multiple items from the list and was asked to indicate the most common types of positions
that officers take after resigning. Fourteen agencies were removed from the analysis because they reported that their agency
does not collect this information.
Source: PERF Member Questionnaire on Recruitment and Retention, October 2022
Police Executive Research Forum Section 1: Understanding the Police Staffing Crisis — 13
The problem of recruitment has been building for 20 years, but now it’s aggravated by the loss of
veteran officers and lower retention rates. It has been aggravated by the negative narrative from big
media and misleading portrayals of officers.
Chief Robert Bage, Fort Walton Beach (FL) Police Department
Overall, PERF’s most recent survey showed that Negative Public Image
while hiring has nudged up slightly, retirements and
resignations are continuing at a worrisome pace. Negative public perceptions and media portrayals
The bottom line is that departments cannot hire of police have made the job far more difficult and
enough officers to offset the number that are retir- less fulfilling for many officers, contributing to the
ing or resigning. And this is happening all across recent increase in retirements and resignations.
the country. In the first half of 2020, the police killings of
Breonna Taylor and George Floyd sparked civil
Competition From unrest in many parts of the country and generated
Other Law Enforcement Agencies harsh, widespread criticism of law enforcement
generally. Shortly afterward, a Gallup poll showed
Many respondents to PERF’s survey reported confidence in the police fell to 48 percent, the lowest
that some of their officers were going to other law level in the survey’s 27-year history. Calls to “defund
enforcement agencies. More and more, agencies the police” became common. ABC news reported
are competing with one another for well-qualified that an “analysis of broadcast transcripts shows that
candidates and experienced officers. As discussed [political] candidates, law enforcement leaders and
below (see page 50), many departments are offering television hosts discussed the impact of ‘defunding
ever-increasing financial incentives to try to attract the police’ more than 10,000 times” between mid-
the best qualified candidates, including experienced 2020 and mid-2022.8
officers from other agencies. Though not unique
to policing, the use of financial incentives to com-
Health Risks From COVID-19
pete for talent with other organizations in the same
industry seems to be approaching unprecedented The COVID-19 pandemic made policing even more
levels within the profession. uncertain and dangerous. During the height of the
pandemic, officers were often the only non-medical
responders available. The risk of exposure to the
virus threatened both officers and their families; in
fact, COVID was the leading cause of officer deaths
in 2020 and 2021.9 Other officers resigned rather
8. Grace Manthey, Frank Esposito, and Amanda Hernandez, “Despite ‘defunding’ claims, police funding has increased in many
US cities,” ABC News, October 16, 2022, https://abcnews.go.com/US/defunding-claims-police-funding-increased-us-cities/
story?id=91511971.
9. Rachel Treisman, “COVID was again the leading cause of death among active-duty law enforcement in 2021,” WAMU, January 12,
2022, https://www.npr.org/2022/01/12/1072411820/law-enforcement-deaths-2021-covid. For more information and data on officer
deaths due to COVID, see the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF), https://nleomf.org/. NLEOMF data
show that COVID remained the leading cause of officer deaths in 2022; see https://nleomf.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2022-EOY-
Fatality-Rept-FINAL-opt.pdf.
14 — Section 1: Understanding the Police Staffing Crisis Police Executive Research Forum
It is very difficult to do this work because of stress and work schedules, especially when you have small
children and insufficient childcare.
Chief David Squires, Wrightsville Beach (NC) Police Department
than get the COVID vaccine. In 2020 and early balance. Policing historically has faced significant
2021, PERF’s “Daily COVID-19 Reports” identi- health and wellness issues — including officer
fied many issues that the pandemic posed for law suicide, substance use disorders, divorce, and post-
enforcement, such as addressing potential COVID traumatic stress disorder — that may concern or
exposure of officers, responding to protests and civil deter potential recruits, though a growing number
disturbances in the COVID environment, and keep- of agencies are working to address these issues. (See
ing the virus out of jails.10 page 43.) More commonplace issues affecting work-
life balance, such as challenges with scheduling,
Less Appeal to Younger Workers childcare options, and housing costs, can also make
policing less attractive to potential applicants.
The benefits and some of the most traditionally On top of the above challenges, many agen-
attractive aspects of a career in policing do not seem cies have large cohorts of senior officers eligible to
to resonate with many younger workers. Policing retire. These agencies face the potential of suddenly
offers a number of the job attributes that young losing many experienced officers due to planned
workers say they most value, including the oppor- retirements or frustration with the changing nature
tunity to help people and do meaningful work, of police work, such as negative public perceptions
day-to-day variety in work experiences, and auton- of the police or the threat of COVID-19 exposure
omy and the opportunity to work outdoors. Yet (which is especially dangerous for older officers).
the negative media portrayals and souring public
perceptions of policing have obscured these selling At the same time, however, the presence of
points. And other benefits of a career in policing, many senior officers in some agencies leaves few
such as a traditional pension, are not as strong sell- advanced positions that early- and mid-career
ing points as in the past. officers can move into. This lack of opportunity can
make it harder for these agencies to retain those
Younger generations are also highly attuned to younger officers.
the importance of personal health and work-life
We are authorized 221 positions for a department that was operating at 233 before 2019. We currently
have 201 on the books. Out of the 201, 52 are within two years of retirement age. (Our retirement age
is 50.) Out of those 52, 37 are already retirement eligible.
Lieutenant Roberto Villegas, Santa Monica (CA) Police Department
Police Executive Research Forum Section 1: Understanding the Police Staffing Crisis — 15
The Impact of Agency Operations and But because agency operations, community
relations, candidate recruitment, and officer reten-
Community Relations
tion are all connected, positive changes in one area
An agency’s operations and its relations with the can produce significant benefits for other areas.
local community affect — and are affected by — its For example, a public recruitment campaign that
success in recruiting candidates and retaining cur- seeks to attract potential officers by showing the
rent officers. For example, agencies cannot operate
the same ways when they are understaffed as
when they are fully staffed. How they modify
their operations to cope with understaffing Agency
can further strain already tenuous com- Operations
munity relations if the department cannot
provide the types and levels of services the
community expects, especially if it already Community
faces elevated public criticism and scru- Relations
tiny. Operational decisions in response to
understaffing can also reduce job satisfaction
among current officers. Candidate Officer
These factors can feed on each other to Recruitment Retention
further erode community relations, make the
department less attractive to new recruits,
and drive even more officers to leave the
department — creating a downward cycle as agen- many ways in which the agency serves the com-
cies must then make further operational changes to munity could improve community understanding
account for further reductions in staff levels. and appreciation of the agency’s role and values.
This increased public support, in turn, could aid the
Some strategies that departments have adopted
agency in its daily operations and improve officer
to address their urgent need for more officers have
retention.
had unintended consequences that have worsened
the staffing crisis. For example, keeping or hiring The remainder of this report highlights a num-
problem officers, assigning mandatory overtime in ber of strategies that agencies across the country
uncoordinated or haphazard ways, or disbanding have adopted to strengthen their recruitment, reten-
certain specialized units can place greater strain on tion, operations, and community support.
officers, increasing the chances they will leave the
agency.
Not only is it becoming increasingly hard to just attract applicants, but it is also extremely difficult to
attract qualified applicants. Once you do get applicants, it is difficult to find the personnel to conduct
the background checks given the personnel shortages that we experienced. It has been a slow ramp
up to overcome the internal infrastructure [i.e., Agency Operations] challenges to allow for hiring and
processing at the level needed.
Lieutenant Roberto Villegas, Santa Monica (CA) Police Department
16 — Section 1: Understanding the Police Staffing Crisis Police Executive Research Forum
Understanding Younger Workers’ Values, Priorities,
and Expectations
As members of each new generation enter the workforce, police departments need to consider
their values, expectations, and priorities in order to successfully recruit and retain them. Millennials
(people born between 1981 and 1996) now make up 35 percent of workers, more than any other
generation, and Generation Z (born 1997-2012) is set to constitute more than 25 percent of
the workforce in coming years.11 While statements about such large groups can only be rough
generalizations, Millennials and Generation Z overall do appear to view the world differently than the
generations that have historically dominated the workforce.
Both Millennials and Generation Z prioritize work-life balance, flexibility, and use of technology in
choosing a career.12 Millennials are especially likely to question authority, and they care more about
an employer’s reputation than its size or longevity.13 Seventy-six percent of Generation Z workers
would consider looking for a new job if their company lacked diversity and inclusion policies.14
These priorities may clash with those of the
Baby Boomers (born 1946-64) and Generation
X (born 1965-80), who are the current leaders
in most police agencies. They also set the
prevailing culture in the agency, which prioritizes
long-term careers, as well as more traditional and
conservative views.15
According to Senior Police Officer Terry
Cherry of the Charleston (SC) Police Department,
“Millennials are disruptors, they’re innovators,
and they want to have a social impact and
improve policing. And you have to let them
if you want them to work for you.” Joining a
profession or company that supports tangible
action on social justice is extremely important to Senior Police Officer Terry Cherry
both Millennials and Generation Z.16
>> continued on page 18
11. TeamStage, “Millennials in the Workplace Statistics: Generational Disparities in 2022,” https://teamstage.io/
millennials-in-the-workplace-statistics/#.
12. Shelly Kramer, “Millennials in the workforce: what really matters to them,” Dell Technologies Blog, January 22,
2015, https://www.dell.com/en-us/blog/millennials-in-the-workforce-what-really-matters-to-them/.
13. BBC, “Millennials, baby boomers or Gen Z: Which one are you and what does it mean?” https://www.bbc.co.uk/
bitesize/articles/zf8j92p; Nikoletta Bika, “Millennials in the workplace: How to manage and engage them,” Resources
for Employers, https://resources.workable.com/stories-and-insights/millennials-in-the-workplace.
14. Nela Richardson and Marie Antonello, “People at Work 2022: A Global Workforce View,” ADP Research Institute,
https://www.adpri.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/PaW_Global_2022_GLB_US-310322_MA.pdf.
15. Jasmine Gordon, “Understanding Baby Boomers At Work: Fast Facts For CHROs,” Forbes, April 11, 2016,
https://www.forbes.com/sites/adp/2016/04/11/understanding-baby-boomers-at-work-fast-facts-for-chros/
?sh=4b4ec270238b|; Boston College Global Workforce Roundtable, “Engaging Baby Boomers in the Workplace,”
October 2013, https://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/centers/cwf/global/membersonly/pdf/Info%20Req%20
Engaging%20Boomers.pdf.
16. Porter Novelli, “2021 Porter Novelli Focus: Gen Z and Justice,” https://www.porternovelli.com/findings/
2021-porter-novelli-focus-gen-z-justice/.
Police Executive Research Forum Section 1: Understanding the Police Staffing Crisis — 17
continued from page 17
17. For more on agencies’ efforts to recruit more younger officers, as well as law enforcement staffing challenges
generally, see PERF’s 2019 report, “The Workforce Crisis, and What Police Agencies Are Doing About It,”
https://www.policeforum.org/assets/WorkforceCrisis.pdf.
18 — Section 1: Understanding the Police Staffing Crisis Police Executive Research Forum
Section 2: Candidate Recruitment
and Hiring
Until recent years, agencies typically received Many agencies are making specific improve-
many applications for every opening. Recruiting ments to their recruitment and hiring practices;
candidates to increase the number of applications others are going one step further and streamlining
was not much of a priority. Rather, the challenge their application and hiring systems as a whole.
was to filter through applications to identify the Agencies also are enhancing their recruitment
very best candidates from among the many well- efforts to reach potential applicants who may not
qualified applicants. have considered a career in law enforcement as a
realistic possibility for themselves or people like
Under such conditions, agencies were not
them.
penalized if they used application and hiring
systems that today seem cumbersome, slow, and
inefficient. In fact, some officials have explained Recruitment Activities Broadcast an
that the difficulty of the application and hiring Agency’s Priorities and Values
process was almost considered a feature because it The way in which a department recruits and hires
effectively thinned out all but the most dedicated officers signals to the local community what kinds
applicants. of individuals the department wants and what skills
Clearly, today’s hiring conditions are very it considers valuable. Things such as job postings
different, and many of the older approaches to and community engagement give the community
applications and hiring are no longer viable. direct insights into how the department sees its offi-
Further, some agencies have realized that the filter- cers and what it expects of them. Everything from
ing “feature” of their earlier application and hiring the application experience to the organization of
processes, as well as their relatively limited recruit- academy cohorts and even mentoring is a transpar-
ing efforts, excluded or discouraged many qualified ent indication of a department’s values.
applicants.
Before, we had an abundance of applicants and were able to be very, very selective. . . . A lot of
applicants met the standards, but we were able to pick the top of the top. We’re still picking and
choosing the best we have, but the numbers from which we choose have dwindled.
Sergeant Robby Jones, Mesa (AZ) Police Department
[When] you reach the point where you have market saturation,
you find a new market. So we’ve got to expand the types of
people who are interested in policing, who have previously not
been necessarily interested in policing.
Bureau of Justice Assistance Director Karhlton Moore
18. Brianna Flavin, “Police Officers Explain Why Diversity in Law Enforcement Matters,” Rasmussen University
Justice Studies Blog, December 10, 2018, https://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/justice-studies/blog/
diversity-in-law-enforcement/.
19. Richard H. Donohue, Jr., “Shades of blue: A review of the hiring, recruitment, and selection of female and minority
police officers,” Social Science Journal, Vol. 58, No. 4, 2021, pp. 484-498.
20. Jeffrey Nowacki, Joseph A. Schafer, and Julie Hibdon, “Workforce diversity in police hiring: The influence of
organizational characteristics,” Justice Evaluation Journal, Vol. 4, No. 1, 2021, pp. 48-67.
21. Jennifer C. Gibbs, “Diversifying the police applicant pool: Motivations of women and minority candidates seeking
police employment,” Criminal Justice Studies, Vol. 32, No. 3, 2019, pp. 207-221.
22. Richard H. Donohue, Jr.
23. Charles Russo and Thomas Rzemyk, “Finding Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity in Policing,” Police Chief Online,
August 4, 2021, https://www.policechiefmagazine.org/finding-equity-inclusion-and-diversity-in-policing/.
24. Gabriele Suboch, Colleen Harrington, and John House. “Why Do Female and Minority Police Officers Remain in
Law Enforcement?” Race, Gender & Class, Vol. 24, No. 3–4, 2017, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26529225.
25. Ibid.
26. Federal Bureau of Investigation, “2019 Crime in the United States,” Table 74, https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-
the-u.s/2019/crime-in-the-u.s.-2019/topic-pages/tables/table-74; Lindsey Van Ness, “Percentage of Women in
State Policing Has Stalled Since 2000,” Pew Charitable Trusts, October 20, 2021, https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/
research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2021/10/20/percentage-of-women-in-state-policing-has-stalled-since-2000.
27. The report is available at https://www.policeforum.org/assets/WomenPoliceLeadership.pdf.
28. Amie M. Schuck, “Female Officers and Community Policing: Examining the Connection between Gender Diversity
and Organizational Change,” Women & Criminal Justice, Vol. 27, No. 5, 2017, https://doi.org/10.1080/08974454.201
7.1303659.
29. Amie M. Schuck, “Women in Policing and the Response to Rape: Representative Bureaucracy and
Organizational Change,” Feminist Criminology, Vol. 13, No. 3, July 2018, https://journals.sagepub.com/
doi/10.1177/1557085117753668.
30. Kimberly A. Lonsway, Michelle Wood, and Katherine Spillar, “Men, Women, and Police Excessive Force: A Tale of
Two Genders,” National Center for Women and Policing, April 2002, https://docplayer.net/21382159-Men-women-
and-police-excessiveforce-a-tale-of-two-genders.html.
31. Kim Michelle Lersch and Tom Mieczkowski, “Who are the problem-prone officers? An analysis of citizen
complaints,” American Journal of Police, Vol. XV, No. 3, 1996, https://doi.org/10.1108/07358549610129613.
3. Agencies should ensure that women are not being unfairly excluded from the hiring and training
process, especially with respect to physical fitness standards.
4. Agencies should create or expand family-friendly policies and resources that support women
(and men) in balancing the demands of the job and the needs of their families.
5. Agencies should provide women members with equal opportunities to the full range of
assignments, including in specialized units.
6. Agencies should ensure their promotional processes are transparent, equitable, and free of any
biases that may have an adverse impact on women.
7. Agencies should provide women members with equal opportunities to attend training and other
development activities throughout their careers.
8. Agencies should create or expand mentoring and career development programs geared toward
women.
9. Efforts to develop and promote women should not be restricted to the sworn ranks only.
Agencies need to make a concerted effort to hire, promote, and provide opportunities to
women members of their professional staffs.
10. Agencies should collect and analyze data on women members in their department to identify
possible disparities, obstacles to advancement, and strategies for improvement.
Expanding the pool of potential officers not only “Police work was very different in the ‘90s
aids an agency’s recruitment efforts, but also than it needs to be today. So number one,
serves the larger goal of staffing the agency with a I’m looking for people who approach the job
more diverse group of officers. A consistent theme from a standpoint of compassion . . . [and]
throughout PERF’s data collection for this report has kindness. The kind of person that’s always
been that successful recruiting and retention both looking to learn the next thing and improve
demand that agencies embrace a diversity of people and hone their craft. The job is constantly
and views. Agencies recognize the value of officers changing because we serve people, and people
who are community-service oriented, empathetic, are constantly changing, culture is constantly
and strong communicators. Agencies also recognize changing.”
the value of having a diversity of races, ethnicities,
This shift also aligns with the change in values
and genders that mirrors the community they serve.
as new generations of young people — Millennials
This is a shift for many police agencies, to and Generation Z — constitute a growing part
attract and retain officers who may be different of the workforce and look for a profession with a
from themselves and possibly from the agency’s purpose, an organization with a good reputation,
current culture. But it aligns with changing public and diversity among their peers. (See sidebar,
expectations for policing, which increasingly focus “Understanding Younger Workers’ Values, Priorities,
on collaboration and community problem-solving. and Expectations.”) These new generations also
place a high value on wellness and work-life balance, pressure with a customer service focus.
so the strategies in these areas that agencies adopt to Those skills are incredibly transferable to
improve officer retention (see Section 3 below) will dispatch and police work. I tell them, if
also help them recruit younger workers. you’re looking for a career change, here’s
what we have to offer. . . . So a lot of what
Adopting New Recruiters we do as far as getting our message out
and Recruiting Techniques about who we are is literally me talking to
people about who we are.”
To reach and incorporate these new pools of
potential candidates, agencies are changing both
their recruiters and their recruiting techniques. Revisiting Hiring Standards
For example, Captain Terrence Dunbar explained Since agencies traditionally had many more
that the Newport News (VA) Police Department is applicants than openings, they were free to make
increasing its diversity in part by seeking bilingual their hiring standards more and more restric-
officers: tive over time, further narrowing the profiles of
“Our initiatives are to increase the number candidates making it through the process. The
of minorities within the department. We current staffing crisis has led many agencies to
are recruiting bilingual officers, and we’re revisit those standards. Some candidates who are
doing a great job at that; we’re averaging qualified and good fits for the needs of modern
about 25 percent Spanish-speaking in each policing might not meet the traditional profile
of our academy classes and a recent class of an officer and might previously have been
had almost 50 percent. Because we are screened out through agencies’ hiring standards.
recruiting for minorities, our classes are Successful agencies are carefully considering
diverse. Our ultimate goal is for the agency whether their standards match the actual capa-
to resemble what the city looks like.” bilities needed for the job.
We historically preferred BAs or higher, but over the past four years we have hired a greater number of
[people with] associate’s degrees and military [service] in lieu of a degree.
Chief Jon Murad, Burlington (VT) Police Department
2%
No Minimum Requirement
2%
7%
Some College but No Degree
9%
4%
Bachelor’s Degree
2%
Education, Life Experience, and Age Senior Deputy Mayor Monisha Harrell of Seattle
(WA) noted, a college degree is not a replacement
Agencies are reconsidering how they view formal for age in developing maturity.
education, life experience, and age as predictors of a
candidate’s success. “The human brain doesn’t stop developing
until you’re 25 years old. So . . . there might
Roughly 7 in 10 agencies require recruits to
be people who are 21, 22, 23 years old, . . .
have at least a high school diploma and 1 in 4 agen-
[and] we say, go back and get more education,
cies require at least some college, according to a
but there could be other ways to reach those
2022 PERF questionnaire — findings comparable
people . . . because brain science is a reason
to PERF’s 2018 survey. (See Figure 7.) However,
that some of these people might not be as
participants in PERF’s national conference shared
ready as others.”
that life experience and other qualities are just as
important as education in making a quality officer.
Agencies can have the best of both worlds by
Sergeant Anthony Gibson of the Charleston (SC)
selecting applicants who are mature and helping
Police Department, for example, spoke of the need
them further their education by offering a college
to “define diversity beyond mere optics, including
tuition reimbursement. Seventy-one percent of
but not limited to diversity of thought, education,
agencies offer a college tuition reimbursement as
background, life experience, job history, socio-
part of a recruiting bonus, but only 39 percent of
economic status, and trade skillsets.”
agencies provide a pay increase or bonus to current
Some of that discussion focused on the impor- officers for a college degree. Chief Yolanda Talley of
tance of age as an indicator of the maturity and the Chicago (IL) Police Department shared:
decision-making skills required of an officer. As
“When I started in Prince William [in February 2021], we were not a diverse police department.
We’re the tenth most diverse county in the country. So one of my mandates as the new chief
of police was to improve diversity. Of course, we’re suffering from the same challenges that
everyone else is — getting people to apply and getting people hired.”
Captain Smith, who led the implementation of PERF’s recommendations, gave an overview
of those changes:“We contracted PERF in 2020, and they spent a year taking a close look at our
recruiting and hiring practices, to figure out what was keeping us from hiring officers who mirrored
the demographics of our community.
33. Police Executive Research Forum, “Review of the Prince William County, VA Police Department’s Recruitment and
Hiring Practices,” May 2021, https://www.pwcva.gov/assets/2021-07/PWC%20Report%20Final.pdf.
Applicant Tracking
When PERF came in, we were looking for an online applicant tracking system, because we
were still stuck in 1970. We had paper hiring files and were tracking our data in Excel and
Word documents. It was difficult to sift through all that to find trends and identify disparate
impacts. Since we’ve gone to the eSOPH applicant tracking system, we’ve had an accurate
look at where we’re losing people throughout the hiring process, any trends, and can identify
ways we may be able to improve.
Marketing
We didn’t really have a robust marketing and advertising plan. We started utilizing targeted
ads on Instagram and other social media platforms. We’re geofencing around colleges and
universities, as well as military bases across the country. Our police department was only about
15 percent female, so we’ve developed some hiring events, videos, and online outreach
specifically about women in law enforcement. And we’re being more intentional about our job
fairs to make sure we reach women’s colleges, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and
Hispanic-Serving Institutions.
Implementation
Some of those changes went into effect on a rolling basis as we worked with PERF, but the
bulk of them were put in place by Chief Newsham in March and April of 2021. We’ve seen a 45
percent decrease in applications in fiscal year 2022, compared to fiscal years 2020 and 2021.
But we’re getting many applicants who told us they never even considered this profession.
In the last fiscal year, 34 percent of our applicants were white, while 66 percent were from
underrepresented groups. Prior to last year, more than half our applicants were white. In the
years leading up to the PERF study, about 16 percent of the trainees in our academy were
female, and about 40 percent were from underrepresented groups. Since then, our academy
classes have been 24 percent female and 70 percent from under-represented groups. We’re
trending in the right direction and have seen positive results from the changes we’ve made, but
there’s still a lot of work to be done.
On Facebook, you can . . . pick locations that you want to hit heavily
with recruiting information. You can also choose demographics —
people’s background, hobbies, education, etc. — so your dollar
goes further. We advertised in areas in which police officers did not
feel appreciated. We’re looking at education, at people with two-
year degrees. And we’re looking for people that like to lift weights,
anything that we know police officers like to do, with healthy
hobbies to ensure they possess outlets to assist with stress.
Chief Rex Troche, Sarasota (FL) Police Department
34. Rishika Dugyala and Kamran Rahman, “6 things to know about Gen Z, politics and 2020,” Politico, October 11, 2020,
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/11/gen-z-politics-2020-poll-takeaways-426767.
35. Yello, “Introducing the First Graduating Class of Generation Z.”
audience to the department. For example, Sergeant requirements, and then connect directly to the
Jacques Tregre of the Gilbert (AZ) Police Depart- agency recruiters via text or call to ask questions.
ment reported: Chief Jim Blocker of the Battle Creek (MI) Police
Department explained:
“I want us to be poking fun at ourselves. Just
have a good time with it instead of being “I thought this was so Millennial, and a waste.
so serious because so much of our job is so Who really takes apps and social media seri-
serious. The perception of the career is so ously when looking for work and importantly
serious. If [you were] a fly on the wall of a a career change? Turns out, many people do!
patrol briefing or saw us goofing around the
“In less than 90 days, we had over
office earlier today, people could see we have
95 applicants in the pool, compared to
a good time while we’re here working. It’s not
the 9 applications using our traditional
all serious police officer stuff.”
recruiting methods. Eighteen were hired after
Social media also provides a means to reach a backgrounds and medical and [psychological
more diverse group of residents, Sergeant Tregre evaluations] were completed: 11 white
explained: males, 4 white females, 2 Black females,
and 1 Hispanic male. [They included] 70
“We do live events so we can be really percent with a B.A., one a master’s degree, a
transparent: put me on the spot, ask me a mechanical engineer, and multiple veterans,
question live on Facebook and we come up and all lived within 50 miles of the city.”
with an answer. Just trying to be a bit self-
deprecating. We’re in Arizona, so we have a
large Hispanic population locally. We did an Community Events to Build Trust
entire Facebook Live in Spanish . . . to show and Aid Recruiting
that you shouldn’t set up walls for yourself Agencies PERF spoke to are sending officers to
[between you and joining the police] that a myriad of community events and are organiz-
aren’t there; if English isn’t your first lan- ing their own — career fairs, community fairs,
guage, think about this skill that you bring to church functions, cultural heritage events, pizza
the table.” with police, workout-with-a-hero sessions, citizens’
Specialized features in social media platforms academies — to make their officers more visible and
allow agencies to strategically target potential recruits approachable. This community-oriented approach is
who live in particular areas of the country, have par- part of a long-term strategy to improve the agency’s
ticular backgrounds, or have hobbies that align with identity, which ultimately will benefit recruiting.
typical law enforcement activities and interests. Captain James Hunt of the King City (CA) Police
Department explained:
Several agencies also reported adopting an
application that allows interested candidates to “We do a lot of community outreach and
enter basic information, ensure they meet the community-related events: coffee with the
cops, pizza with the police, ice cream with We have increased our social media content,
the cops. So we’re trying on all levels, with all which targets a broad range of the public. In
facets of the community to reach out. And addition, we have diversified our recruitment
we’re increasing our presence in schools. Let efforts to include local community events,
kids get to know us in a different light — kids high school, community college, and four-
who might be interested in a career in law year school career fairs. We also conduct
enforcement.” informational meetings for school clubs and
table-top events on campus. We routinely
Agencies commonly attend traditional recruit- attend military recruitment events at our local
ing events like career fairs, information booths at Marine bases.
high schools and colleges, and military recruitment
“These efforts have resulted in the highest
events. “The job fairs and stuff like that, that’s been
year of overall hiring and number of female
consistent; I don’t think we ever stopped doing that,”
candidates in the process.”
said Captain Nicholas Picerno of the Montgomery
County (MD) Police Department. “I got hired as a
police officer 20 years ago because of a job fair.” One unique take on the career fair approach
comes from the Cedar Rapids (IA) Police Depart-
These events continue to be moderately suc- ment, which attends a career fair for student ath-
cessful in recruiting traditional applicants as well as letes. Several agencies said they target student
some from underrepresented populations, but other athletes for recruitment — particularly female ath-
agencies have found them less successful. According letes, since they would be especially likely to meet
to Chief Billy Grogan of the Dunwoody (GA) Police the agency’s physical standards.
Department:
I’m a big proponent of our cadet program. Participants are 18-21, they don’t make much and it doesn’t
count toward their pension or years of service, but once they’re 21 they can become recruits and by
that time we know if they’re a good fit. Some don’t become officers, but the ones that do become the
best in the academy.
Lieutenant Mike Cox, Anne Arundel County (MD) Police Department
36. Ibid.
While each agency has its own set of issues is a place where officers want to work — a place
affecting officers’ decisions about remaining in the where they spend their careers, where they can grow
department, Captain Colin King’s explanation of the and thrive, and where they can earn respect and
retention challenges facing the Tucson (AZ) Police honor. As Chief Joseph Hoebeke of the Hollis (NH)
Department covers many commonly cited issues: Police Department explained, the combination of a
positive work environment and positive community
“Planned retirements have been a factor. relations has made the department more successful
Other reasons for the reduction in staffing at retaining officers and more competitive for
include resignations for other careers outside recruiting candidates:
of public safety. Some reasons given include
compensation, perceived lack of support from “We have been successful in retaining
the community and from elected officials, employees as we place an emphasis on orga-
and the perceived increase in danger while nizational culture, wellness, and work-life
policing. Some feedback identifies the loss balance. In Hollis, we enjoy a strong relation-
of nobility and respect in policing, especially ship with the community and high level of
as it is presented in media and other similar support. On a number of occasions, we have
sources. Finally, pension changes make it found that applicants have only applied to
harder for our younger employees to envision our agency, which is an indication that we
staying with the agency until retirement when are doing something right. I think we offer
that can be 30-plus years into the future.” stability, in terms of community support,
a solid work-life balance, a strong culture,
Most successful agencies have found that comparable wages, and a progressive policing
retaining officers requires ensuring the department mindset.”
We are a smaller agency, 46 sworn, which affords us a family environment. I know every officer by name
and generally know what’s going on of significance at home with each. I have worked at a much larger
agency and constantly tout the wonderful family feel that we share. We also get a ton of support from
our local community. We are the recipient of food and treats on a weekly basis. Our local community
certainly adores their officers.
Chief Sean Dunn, Williamsburg (VA) Police Department
“Our exit interview process is our gauge as they walk out the door. Were we successful in
creating that culture for you, or are you leaving because we weren’t successful? Those are
good opportunities for us to look in the mirror, have administrative meetings, and discuss
where we failed with this human being. Did they not feel a part of the organization? Did they
not feel valued? Did they not have input?”
But, as Sergeant Anthony Gibson of the Charleston (SC) Police Department pointed out, exit
interviews are not enough to understand what officers are experiencing, why some officers are
leaving, and the needs of those officers still in the agency.
“Exit interviews are too late. They are good to gauge attitudes of departing employees
and/or to identify immediate problems to be addressed but they do not lend to sustained
organizational change. Officer check-ins are essential to assessing the trends and temperature,
if you will, of your officers.”
Most agencies (59 percent of respondents to PERF’s survey) reported that they measure
employee satisfaction, but many agencies also have adopted further strategies to better understand
their specific retention issues. For example, the Hyattsville (MD) Police Department conducts an
agency-wide anonymous survey of sworn and professional staff. Similarly, the Charleston (SC) Police
Department conducts a “stay engaged” survey.
By creating or strengthening programs and police-involved shootings, have added to the already
policies that address officers’ stake in the depart- high stress levels under which police officers work.
ment, their values and expectations for the job, their This stress can lead to burnout and cause officers
health and wellness, and the department’s commit- to leave the profession; it also can result in physical
ment to its values, agencies can help build a more and mental health problems and even suicide.37
positive culture within the organization. The staffing crisis has increased the pressure on
agencies to prioritize mental health — both to help
Addressing Long-Standing Issues their current officers and to make the agency more
With Officer Well-Being attractive to new recruits who do not want to expe-
rience these same struggles. As Sheriff Tim Leslie of
The policing profession has long struggled with
the Dakota County (MN) Sheriff ’s Office shared:
significant wellness issues, including higher rates
of suicide, depression, social isolation, substance “I think [the stress of policing] has gotten
use disorder, divorce, and post-traumatic stress worse. . . . [I]n my day, we had another
disorder. The events of the past few years, includ- cocktail or you talked about it a little bit,
ing the pandemic and the public fallout from but you really kind of were encouraged to
37. Bureau of Justice Assistance, “Officer Suicide: Understanding the Challenges and Developing a Plan of Action,” July 2020,
https://bja.ojp.gov/library/publications/officer-suicide-understanding-challenges-and-developing-plan-action.
suppress it. I think we’ve moved past that; we example, Chief Paul Liquorie of the Holly Springs
are much more open now to understanding (NC) Police Department reported:
that we are like anyone else. We can’t just
slough it off. . . . When an officer goes We increased our wellness programs, includ-
through a traumatic event, we’ve got to reach ing the areas of mental health, physical
out and make sure this human being is okay fitness, and training. As a midsized agency
and is going to get through this, and wrap (75 sworn) we also try to promote a family
our arms around them as best we can.” atmosphere — holding family days, holiday
parties, and other events that build personal
relationships and the feeling of belonging at
Encouraging Time Off our department.
and Time With Family
Commander Ron Leonard of the Jefferson
Agency efforts to improve officers’ work-life County (CO) Sheriff ’s Office explained that his
balance by changing “old school” attitudes department hosts a catered employee appreciation
about policing can improve both retention event each year for employees to celebrate suc-
and recruitment. Chief Steve Mylett of the cess and honor their work. It also holds a summer
Akron (OH) Police Department described the employee picnic focused on family engagement,
importance of time off and time with family: with command staff manning the booths and a
food truck providing dinner to employees and their
“I came on in 1989. I loved this job so families.
much that I probably wore my uniform to
bed. I couldn’t wait to go to work, and I
was so pumped to be a police officer. Many Creating Options for Officers to Get Help
of my classmates, and people who came and Improve Their Well-Being
on before me, didn’t worry about taking Agencies are using various holistic approaches to
time off and didn’t focus on spending time improve their officers’ health and wellness. For
with our families because work came first. example, Chief Ryan Zuidema explained that
What a mistake that was. Unfortunately, we the Lynchburg (VA) Police Department’s holis-
witnessed a lot of divorces, alcoholism, and tic approach includes a post-academy training
other destructive outcomes. program on emotional survival for law enforce-
“So, I think this generation is actually ment that staff complete with a family member
smarter than we were in valuing their time or significant other. Additionally, all sworn and
off.” professional staff must undergo an annual mental
health checkup called “a checkup from the neck
An important related strategy for many depart- up,” and they have access to a department psychol-
ments is supporting the families of staff. For ogist as needed at no cost.
We established constant communication and an open-door policy with the sheriff and command staff to
understand the needs of the agency and its employees.
Director of Human Resources Molly Hudson, Volusia (FL) Sheriff’s Office
“We offer department members the ability to • Designating Administrative Support Bureau
participate in advisory committees focusing commanders as advocates to quickly disseminate
on training, uniform and equipment, accurate information to staff.
policies and procedures, and recruitment. • Designating “retention ambassadors” at each
The purpose of these groups is to enhance work location to facilitate the accurate flow of
officers’ personal investment in the information, conduct stay interviews, and be
department by affording them the chance to champions for the agency.
bring forth ideas and collaborate on current
and future policing recommendations to the
Chief of Police.”
Creating Opportunities for Officers
to Grow Within the Agency
Even if officers feel they have a voice in their depart-
Acting on Officers’ Input ment, their time at an agency may be limited by
Larger agencies have made similar efforts to their ability to advance in their career. Attendees
enhance two-way communication to ensure that at PERF’s November 2022 conference stressed the
they not only hear officers and consider their importance of providing staff with opportunities
perspectives, but also act on the officers’ input. The for growth. Nearly three-fourths of PERF survey
Fairfax County (VA) Police Department, for exam- respondents report that they provide officers with
ple, took a number of steps, including: professional development opportunities as a reten-
tion strategy.
• Formalizing officer retention as a dedicated
responsibility in the newly named Recruiting
Investing in Officer Education
and Retention Section, with personnel specially
assigned to focus on retention. Many agencies incentivize advanced education (39
• Creating a retention action plan that includes percent of survey respondents), such as through
confidential “pulse check” interviews to gather pay increases, or even help fund further education.
feedback from current officers and mandatory For officers who stay, for example, the Gaithersburg
exit interviews for separating employees. (MD) Police Department will pay for their college
degree regardless of the major or field chosen.
• Creating an electronic, anonymous suggestion
box for personnel to submit ideas directly to the The Chicago Police Department has made sig-
retention team. nificant investments in higher education benefits. In
fact, it has sent so many officers to law school that
“Right now, we have more attorneys as patrol offi-
cers than the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office,”
according to Chief Yolanda Talley. She added, “We
are a very educated department and have paid for
a lot of undergraduate and graduate degrees, law
degrees, and doctorates.”
Reducing time-in-grade requirements for Some agencies are offering new and special assign-
promotions and offering promotion examinations ments to enable officers to challenge themselves and
on a more regular basis can enable officers to grow, which also makes them more valuable to the
move up in a more timely manner. However, only agency.
18 percent and 21 percent of survey respondents, Director of Policy and Communications David
respectively, have implemented these changes. Karas of the Wilmington (DE) Police Department,
Some agencies shared they have conducted for example, said, “Wilmington police officers are
buyouts or adjusted their maximum retirement offered a range of opportunities for advancement,
age so that they can move some people out in training, and professional development. This begins
order to move other people up. The Columbus with our intensive, in-house police academy, and
(OH) Police Department, for example, conducted continues throughout their careers through regular
an unprecedented buyout in the summer of 2022, in-service training and a wide variety of specialized
offering 100 veteran officers $200,000 apiece to training offerings.” And Captain Eric Versteeg of the
leave. Lodi (CA) Police Department said, “Our agency has
The Chicago Police Department instituted numerous collateral duty assignments to help pro-
a mandatory retirement age to open up vide variety and additional training for every officer
positions for younger officers. “We hadn’t had off probation.”
a promotional exam in 10 years because we
didn’t have a mandatory retirement age; people Showing Support From
could stay forever,” explained Chief Talley. “So, Agency Leadership
we ran into those problems where you have
When staff think that their department does not
people in a detective division for 40 years, and
support them, they do not want to stay around.
those vacancies just weren’t there to promote.
Police leaders are demonstrating commitment
Once we went to 63 years of age as a mandatory
to their officers by praising them when they do
requirement, people started leaving.”
well, supporting them when doing the right
thing still leads to a bad outcome, and holding
them accountable when they violate policies or incidents, and the command team grills food for
expectations. staff on occasion to show support and engage with
According to Captain Chad Kauffman of the them.
Staunton (VA) Police Department, for example:
Gaining Support
“We revamped our awards and recognition
From the Local Community
program to better recognize officers for
exceptional performance. And we are utilizing A running theme through PERF’s interviews and
the PowerEngage survey platform, which the national conference was the importance of the
provides near-real-time positive feedback to local community’s attitudes toward and interactions
officers from citizens they interact with.” with the department and its officers. Community
attitudes can have a major impact on whether
According to Chief Sean Dunn of the officers feel valued, respected, and rewarded by the
Williamsburg (VA) Police Department, “We have work they do, which in turn affects their decisions
made a conscious effort to recognize employees’ about continuing to do that work.
efforts more than at any other time in my career. “People want to feel valued, from both the
We might do it by email, a conversation in a hallway agency and the community,” said Chief Shanon
or lineup, or through a formal award recognition. Anderson of the Oregon State University Police
We also opened up command meetings virtually Department. “They can leave at a moment’s notice,
to all personnel to be sure all staff are aware of so you can’t wait to see something happening with
department happenings, as well as priorities.” The them to make changes or fix issues.”
department also provides lunch or dinner for staff
Given the negative framing of many national
at times such as training events or following difficult
stories regarding police in the past several years,
it is important for a department to distinguish its
culture, activities, and officers from that national
narrative. It can do so by improving the local
community’s understanding of their local police
The Mayor and Council support our
department.
department and regularly attend ceremonies
and recognition events.
Chief Jarod Towers, Hyattsville (MD)
Police Department
Government leaders are a reflection of the forward. And we let them know how we
community, so their support — such as showing up were working to solve some of the problems
at events sponsored by law enforcement — also rep- around having to work, additional shifts and
resents community support. Senior Deputy Mayor all that. [W]e’re hoping that helps turn the
Monisha Harrell of Seattle (WA) shared: tide in some of the loss [of staff].”
“The mayor’s office has gone to every single Some agencies indicated that strong commu-
roll call for all of our precincts, all shifts. We nity support helped them maintain or even increase
talked to every officer, letting them know their staffing levels.
that they have a direct voice in how we move
50 — Section 4: Financial Incentives as a Recruitment and Retention Strategy Police Executive Research Forum
Figure 8: Departments Offering Variety of Financial Incentives for Officer Recruitment
Police Executive Research Forum Section 4: Financial Incentives as a Recruitment and Retention Strategy — 51
This year we have also implemented hiring bonuses for sworn officers, military personnel, and an
internal employee referral incentive.
Lieutenant Ted Lopez, Anaheim (CA) Police Department
Potential for problematic officers. Adding not abbreviated academies. The purpose is for all
to these concerns are the limitations in preventing recruits, whether they are new to the profession
officers with a history of misconduct from moving or have previous experience, to learn the depart-
from agency to agency. Chief Jason Armstrong ment’s values and culture and to build a team
of the Apex (NC) Police Department shared mentality.
an alarming case in which an officer whom he
had fired for criminal use of force while at the Recruitment Incentives
Ferguson (MO) Police Department was hired at Have Only Limited Benefits
another agency before that case was concluded.
Agencies shared that while financial incentives are
While thorough background checks could well intentioned and overwhelmingly appreciated
help prevent such occurrences, several par- by incoming officers, overcoming their staffing
ticipants in PERF’s conference said they had issues will take deeper, longer-term departmental
challenges in obtaining information about officers changes. According to Chief John Clair of the Town
from their prior or current agency. State laws of Marion (VA) Police Department:
requiring law enforcement agencies to share
information about their officers with other “I challenge someone to produce objective
agencies during background checks can help, data, that any of the financial incentives are
according to Commander Ronald Leonard of the truly working. The money we throw around
Jefferson County Sheriff ’s Office in Colorado, one just keeps on adding up. I think if we offered
state with such a law. a 20k bonus, we’d immediately get lateral
Director of Training Juan Balderrama of the transfers, who’d quit a year later. I won’t say
Oklahoma City (OK) Police Department shared I don’t believe in a certain level of financial
that his agency seeks to protect against prob- incentives. . . . I just don’t think we need
lematic lateral officers entering the agency by large bonuses.”
requiring laterals to attend full-length academies,
52 — Section 4: Financial Incentives as a Recruitment and Retention Strategy Police Executive Research Forum
Agencies Also Offering Retention bonuses. Agencies shared that
Retention Incentives retaining seasoned, trained officers is paramount
in their efforts to maintain organizational stability.
Various agencies shared with us in interviews Chief LeRonne Armstrong of the Oakland (CA)
and the conference that they are offering large Police Department explained his preference for
sums to retain current officers. For instance, the retaining over recruiting. The Oakland City Coun-
Hyattsville (MD) Police Department employed a cil had pushed an initiative to pay a sign-on bonus
one-time $7,000 retention bonus for all officers; the of $50,000 to new recruits, but Chief Armstrong
Aurora (CO) Police Department paid two bonuses believed that using those funds instead to create a
totaling $10,000; and the Memphis (TN) Police retention program would result in higher dividends
Department gave a 9 percent bonus to officers who for the department: “We were competing against
committed to staying. Many agencies providing 20 other local law enforcement agencies that were
retention bonuses are offering them as a one-time providing bonuses and . . . I thought we had to
occurrence to meet current staffing needs, using figure out a way to retain our officers as opposed to
surplus funds that were available due to staffing competing with the other agencies’ recruiting.”
shortages.
Chief Armstrong convinced the council to
redirect the funds into a bonus structure ($3,000
Several Types of Financial Incentives for three years, $5,000 for five years, and $7,500 for
In some cases, financial incentives can help tip the 10-plus years) and it has proven successful. “Our
balance in ways that help with retention, as well attrition rate has plummeted,” according to Chief
as encourage officers to develop and grow in ways Armstrong. “We have seen zero officers leave, and
that are valuable for the department. 12 officers have returned.” (Returning officers were
eligible for the bonus if they had left in the last two
For example, Police Lieutenant James Gordon years.)
of the Virginia Beach (VA) Police Department
noted, “Our department recently implemented a Increased overtime opportunities. Agencies
new step-pay plan, which seems to be helping curb have also adopted various other financial incentives
early retirements by allowing our officers to see to retain officers. (See Figure 9.) Sixty-one percent
the projection of pay increases they will receive. In of agencies answering PERF’s questionnaire offer
addition, our City Council and Senior Executive increased overtime opportunities as an incentive.
City Leadership have publicly supported our offi- Traditionally, overtime offers an effective means
cers and have approved pay increases for our police for officers to quickly increase their take-home pay,
staff over the past two years, when other cities and though some agencies caution that mandatory or
states were cutting police funding.” excessive overtime may push officers away. (See
Section 5.) Many agencies are also providing pay
increases or bonuses to officers who meet specified
service milestones or receive a college degree.
Recently we significantly raised our starting pay and made our lateral step-plan go all the way up to 20
years of service. We have received a lot of lateral applicants from other departments. While we have
hired several laterals, we have also disqualified many more due to employment related issues at their
current departments. Despite this, the strategy overall is working for us. But other departments may
follow suit once they see what we’re doing.
Manager Janie Gonzalez, Dallas (TX) Area Rapid Transit Police Department
Police Executive Research Forum Section 4: Financial Incentives as a Recruitment and Retention Strategy — 53
Figure 9: Departments Offering Variety of Financial Incentives for Officer Retention
Improved retirement options. In addition, If officers stay on the job purely for financial
many agencies are seeking to boost retention by reasons even as their commitment to the profes-
offering deferred retirement option plan (DROP) sion and their department’s culture weakens, their
programs or other flexible retirement/pension actions and attitudes could damage all aspects of the
options. For instance, the Prince George’s County department: its culture, retention and recruitment
(MD) Police Department restructured its DROP efforts, and operational objectives regarding public
program because, as Chief Malik Aziz explained, safety. In these circumstances, a department may be
“We’re at a critical juncture: this year was bad, next better served by adopting policies and procedures
year it’ll get worse, and the year after that is going to to let officers go more easily if they do not reach
be terrible if we don’t actually keep some of our vet- expectations.
erans here.” Under Prince George’s program, once Also, as Lieutenant Bill Walsh of the Voorhees
an officer has 22 years of service they can begin Township (NJ) Police Department noted, a strategy
accruing, in addition to their salary, retirement pay of changing retirement options to try to boost reten-
that they receive after they retire. The program has tion may be less effective with younger workers,
probably led several hundred officers to stay on who may instead focus on the experience they can
longer, department staff estimate. gain now.
54 — Section 4: Financial Incentives as a Recruitment and Retention Strategy Police Executive Research Forum
Department does offer a competitive salary As an immediate solution to a current work-
(after the first year), as well as a variety of force shortage, financial incentives can be extremely
incentive pay. As a large agency, we obviously effective and warranted in a crisis. Nevertheless,
offer more benefits, such as the ability to because the incentives are generally short term,
move around to various divisions and spe- agencies may see a downturn in morale once they
cialized units, and the ability to more easily end. And other retention strategies discussed in
promote than some smaller agencies. this report may be more sustainable and even more
effective.
“For those eligible to retire, the cost of
retiree health insurance has been prohibitive
for some employees and their families, so they
stay. For those officers who have DROP, see-
ing that account grow has encouraged some
to stay.”
38. Los Angeles Police Department, “Sworn and Civilian Personnel Statistics Information for the Pay Period Ending
November 19, 2022,” http://www.lapdpolicecom.lacity.org/120622/PS_120622.pdf.
39. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Consumer Expenditures for the Los Angeles Area: 2020-21,” October 13, 2022,
https://www.bls.gov/regions/west/news-release/consumerexpenditures_losangeles.htm.
40. Zumper, “Los Angeles, CA Rent Prices,” January 19, 2023, https://www.zumper.com/rent-research/los-angeles-ca.
Police Executive Research Forum Section 4: Financial Incentives as a Recruitment and Retention Strategy — 55
continued from page 55
program. With a pool of thousands of candidates advancing through the hiring process,
hundreds have inquired about their eligibility and are anxiously waiting for their opportunity to
participate.”
To fund the new program, LAPD partnered with the Los Angeles Police Foundation, which
reached out to previous donors and others potentially interested in addressing crime in the area. The
foundation has raised more than $2 million since April 2022. In addition to working with developers,
the foundation has contacted property owners who understand the benefits of having an officer
living on their premises.
One appeal of offering a rent subsidy rather than increased salary for new officers is that the
money isn’t taxable and poses no additional burden to the city government or LAPD. The Los
Angeles Police Foundation processes all of the reimbursements for the officers.
McCraney hopes that Housing for Hires can eventually expand beyond new recruits and assist
officers throughout the department. This would serve as an effective retention strategy as well as a
recruitment tool. “We’ve only scratched the surface regarding how many people we’ve reached out
to. And the more the word gets out and the more we build this program, the stronger we’ll get, and
additional resources will come in this direction.”
56 — Section 4: Financial Incentives as a Recruitment and Retention Strategy Police Executive Research Forum
Section 5: Agency Operations
Also, providing time off through annual leave Assistant Chief LaShanna Potts of the Colum-
and thoughtful shift scheduling is important to bus (OH) Division of Police described how 911
enable officers to reset and recover from the rigors, call-takers determine whether police need to go to
stress, and trauma of policing. And agencies should a call or if a different response is warranted. This is
avoid basing assignments primarily on seniority or an important consideration in mental health calls,
tenure in the department when possible. where there could be a threat of violence.
and is improving its use of the records management the shoplifter and submits paperwork to the police
system to take reports from the public more easily. department that is processed by clerical staff and
Sarasota (FL) Chief Rex Troche mused about ways later reviewed by an officer, who sends it for charg-
that handling calls remotely or virtually could make ing. The ultimate consequences for [shoplifters]
an agency more responsive for the people who feel have not changed. And in fact, we’ve seen a lot of
more comfortable with that medium than interact- success with loss prevention, identifying them and
ing face-to-face: dealing with them without a police response.”
“I have kids that are in their 20s, and they Agencies are also integrating professional
don’t want to talk to anybody face to face. staff more fully into police operations, which can
They’d rather text you. [We know] about tele- improve agency efficiency and response quality over
health, so what about tele-cop? Maybe some- the long term. The models of integrating profes-
body doesn’t want to meet with a cop and it’s sional staff into the response protocols vary, with
a minor crime, so we FaceTime each other. some agencies focusing professional assistance on
We really have to be creative as we move for- fulfilling desk duties, others on responding to low-
ward, because we’re doing more with less.” risk calls, and still others giving professional staff
larger roles.
One popular strategy is shifting low-priority
Greater Use of Professional Staff work (normally work that does not have a safety
Some community members, such as business vic- risk) from officers to civilians. As Deputy Chief
tims of commercial theft, are most concerned that Brian LaBarge of the Burlington (VT) Police
a report be completed; for these types of callers it Department explained, calls are prioritized by
does not matter whether the responding member of public safety: officers focus on “hot calls,” while
the agency is sworn or professional. Other com- non-sworn community service officers take on low-
munity members, such as private citizens who are priority calls and community support liaisons, who
victims of personal property theft, expect a sworn are professional staff, take on other low-priority
and uniformed officer to respond to their call for calls, many of which are mental health calls.
service. The Aurora (CO) Police Department has
launched a community service officer program
Community Service Officers in which professional staff respond to traffic acci-
dents that involve only property damage. Division
The St. Cloud (MN) Police Department has created Chief Christopher Juul explained that the depart-
a unique program to lessen the load of answering ment hopes these staff also will eventually take on
calls for shoplifting, relying on retailers and com- cold cases that don’t necessarily need a uniformed
munity service officers to take on this response. response. Not only do officers appreciate that the
As Commander Adam Meierding explained, the program lowers their burden, but many of the
department “completely redesigned how we take community service officers would like to be police
shoplifters from our local businesses. . . . [The officers, so the program is a good way to develop
department] worked with major retailers and future officers.
developed a process where . . . the retailer identifies
41. Salma Reyes and Nathan Collins, “National and Valley police departments hire more civilian investigators to fill vacancies,” KTAR
News, October 3, 2022, https://ktar.com/story/5271984/national-and-valley-police-departments-hire-more-civilian-investigators-to-
fill-vacancies/ .
Every city is going to have to figure out how much risk they’re
going to be able to assess when a 911 call comes in. So that
system had to be built at the very front end, for us to really
understand what calls we can push out to social services. We
have a community service officer program, other alternative
programs, and a lot of other different developments. But trying
to assess risk on a call is really one of the biggest jobs.
Chief Adrian Diaz, Seattle (WA) Police Department
[Also,] some of the alternative responses have not been effective . . . because we went to alternative
services before they were prepared to provide the service. So while we wanted to have someone
different than police show up, when they showed up they weren’t equipped to actually satisfy that
community member’s call. For instance, we have a non-police response to mental health calls, but some
mental health responders don’t enter residences, and they don’t go to calls where there’s potential
violence.
Chief LeRonne Armstrong, Oakland (CA) Police Department
“It’s helpful to think about this from a systems perspective and to think not just about the
number of staff we need, but what they’re doing and how they’re doing it. We need to think
about what it is that the community needs, what’s the service style of the organization, and
then assess the workload. By thinking about workload demand, we reframe the problem in
terms of getting the community what it needs, and then recruitment and retention become
tools for addressing that. And it’s not just staffing, it’s what things can we do better? How do
we create efficiencies? . . .
“A lot of agencies compare themselves to peer organizations and say, here’s a community
that has a similar size or similar crime rate, so we need to benchmark our staffing based on
them. But that’s a very dangerous proposition . . . because that doesn’t say anything about
the nature of policing or the circumstances or even whether [the other agency] has the right
number of officers.
“Agencies need to come up with the staffing level based on their own workload,
assessment, and performance objectives and not rely so heavily on exterior benchmarks like
other agencies.”
Dr. Wilson and Dr. Alexander Weiss have developed a six-step approach that agencies can adopt
to critically examine their workload demands.42
1. Examine the distribution of calls for service by hour of day, day of week, and month. This
helps agencies determine which parts of the day, and possibly which months of the year, require
more resources.
2. Examine the nature of calls for service. The data collected by a computer-aided dispatch
system (CAD) regarding calls for service may be misleading. (For example, the system could
capture an officer’s meal time as a call.) Scrutiny of this data is necessary to accurately determine
which calls are citizen generated and therefore relevant in estimating staff needs.
3. Estimate the amount of time consumed by calls for service. This estimate should encompass
both the calls themselves and any related administrative tasks. This metric is also helpful for
creating performance standards and apportioning an officer’s time among different tasks.
4. Calculate the agency shift-relief factor. This is the relationship between the maximum number
of days that an officer could work and the number that an officer actually works, considering time
off and other types of leave. Calculating this factor is key to estimating the number of officers
that should be assigned to each shift.
5. Establish performance objectives. Agencies should determine the balance of work during an
officer’s shift, such as the amount of time dedicated to calls for service, to administrative work,
>> continued on page 66
42. Jeremy M. Wilson and Alexander Weiss, “A Performance-Based Approach to Police Staffing and Allocation,” Office
of Community Oriented Policing Services, revised 2014, https://cops.usdoj.gov/ric/Publications/cops-p247-pub.pdf.
and to proactive policing. Historically, one-third of an officer’s time has gone to each of these
activities, but agencies should consider how the amount of time dedicated to each task aligns
with the agency’s priorities and values.
6. Provide staffing estimates. Using the data generated through the above steps, agencies can
create staffing estimates that balance the true workload at their agency along with the available
staff to respond.
The staffing challenges facing law enforcement and wellness and giving officers a larger voice in
agencies reflect some of the same issues affecting the agency, these agencies have discovered ways
other employers, such as a strong job market and to modernize and improve, which also helps them
increasing options for remote work. But they recruit and retain officers.
also reflect issues specific to policing, including The following ten recommendations, which
a negative public image, insufficient diversity, reflect the insights and experiences of law enforce-
significant health and well-being issues, and lack of ment officials described throughout this report,
appeal to younger generations of workers. provide a solid foundation that other agencies can
These issues were already creating problems for follow:
law enforcement agencies in 2019, when PERF pub- 1. Re-examine hiring processes.
lished its previous report on this topic. Since 2019,
the combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and 2. Adopt innovative recruiting strategies.
civil unrest related to police shootings has raised 3. “Go upstream” to identify future officers.
these pre-existing challenges to another level.
4. Update hiring standards.
Not all agencies are facing severe staffing issues.
Many agencies with favorable local conditions, such 5. Offer recruitment incentives.
as good community relations or lower social service 6. Be wary of lateral recruitment.
needs, have not experienced sharp declines in appli-
7. Share burdens to help address understaffing.
cations or increases in retirements and resignations.
For most agencies, however, these higher-level chal- 8. Make greater use of professional staff.
lenges have pushed them toward a breaking point: 9. To boost retention, help officers improve their
officers are leaving faster than they can be replaced well-being.
and the traditional approaches to officer recruit-
ment and retention no longer work. Often, efforts 10. Build community support.
to maintain operations despite understaffing only
make things worse.
Rather than “doing more of what has always
worked in the past” or trying to patch up their
recruitment/retention efforts with one-time finan-
cial incentives or other quick fixes, some agencies
have begun overhauling significant parts of the
organization. By taking steps to address long-
standing issues such as improving officers’ health
Recruitment Retention
Police Executive Research Forum About the Police Executive Research Forum — 69
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