Public Safety Recruiting: It’s Not a Crisis—It’s a Leadership Challenge
Let’s debunk one recruiting myth: it’s not going to change by doing business as usual
Modernizing the Approach: Competing in Today’s Talent Market
Let’s set the stage: law enforcement recruiting is going through a phase like many practices in law enforcement. At the turn of the century, the public information officer’s role revolved around managing multiple tube-style televisions, each linked to its own VHS recorder. One of the most time-consuming tasks was compiling a single videotape of weekly local news coverage to present at the command staff meeting. Years later, during my final tour in media relations, I worked with a manager who had excelled in the role nearly two decades earlier, when priorities included faxing press releases and editing media coverage onto videotapes. Since serving as a public information officer, the entire landscape had been upended and within those gap years I had been one of the change agents launching our presence and defining our policies, for social media.
“I don’t know anything about social media, but I want you to do this” or some version of it happened everywhere. Anyone who has worked in media relations or a press office is laughing and recalling how many times they have heard something like that. My manager wasn’t a bad person or even full of bad ideas. During their time, they were at the top of their game. They just couldn’t understand that the game had changed. Print media, especially newspapers, all but disappeared completely during that time gap and the manner that news was consumed had been forever changed.
The world changes quickly and while I recall single function computers like yesterday, the changes in the last 30 years, especially the way people interact with advancing technology, information, and the media, has had a profound impact on every aspect of life. Social Psychologist Jonathan Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation, isolated 2013 as the point in history where mobile devices with high-speed connectivity and immersive phone apps with infinite scrolling literally rewired childhood.
Breaking the Myth: Why Business as Usual Won’t Work
This has also happened with police recruiting. Dr. Travis Yates states that contemporary police recruiting is not recruiting at all, instead it is marketing. He and I were hired in the early 1990s, when agencies had more applicants than positions. He was one of the few to look at the horizon and see the hiring issues that public safety would be facing in the future. Dr. Yates states:
“Whether it’s billboards, wraps, websites or videos, the idea that branding will significantly help with recruiting is not only faulty but very expensive. Many of our clients tried all that and more before coming to us and when we can target individuals rather than blanketing everyone, recruiting turns around.”
Last year, he and I worked on a recruiting project together and I can affirm that he and his associates at Safeguard Recruiting have the effective basis for developing candidate leads with a stellar conversion rate as successful recruits. Often their tailored recruitment strategies identify far more viable candidates than the agencies can process.
Mike Forehand, a former professional military recruiter who also enjoyed success in the private sector, has talked to dozens of law enforcement agencies. His company, Police Hiring Solutions, led him to many conversations with police recruiters which were productive, but command staff is seriously entrenched and unreceptive.
They would be wise to listen to what he is offering. Forehand says:
“Recruiting is a professional skillset on its own. Private industry has spent billions creating better recruiting programs and developing their recruiters. Conversely, many law enforcement agencies simply assign officers to recruiting and provide them minimal training from those whom they are replacing.”
When Forehand was in the military and earned an opportunity to become a recruiter, he was sent to months of formal training followed by structured on-the-job training before earning the title of recruiter.
The Problem with Assigning Recruiters: Misaligned Priorities
In larger departments, officers are often assigned to recruiting posts through a selection process focused on filling a vacancy, rather than identifying the most qualified individuals for the role.
This approach starkly contrasts with the principles of effective recruiting, where exceptional candidates are proactively sought out based on their aptitude and alignment with the role’s demands.
A two-year officer, who has the requisite aptitude, doesn’t stand a chance against a 13-year SWAT officer who has earned a medal of valor with zero people skills, but wants to enjoy more time at home and experience some work related travel. The veteran officer is going to get the job every time. This is central to the issues of police recruiting. She or he, the veteran officer, is also going to receive exceeds standards on their annual evaluation because they are being judged as an officer, not a police recruiter. It shouldn’t be a surprise that by choosing the wrong candidate, the agency isn’t hitting goals.
Marketing Pitfalls: The Cost of Ineffective Campaigns
Police departments and sheriff’s offices are buying a false bill of goods by so many of these marketing companies offering websites, epic-cop-life videos, and transit bus advertising. Dr. Yates recently told me of a high six figure contract with a major city that hadn’t resulted in a single hire. Minneapolis, also, had a particularly disastrous campaign, the ‘Imagine Yourself’ million dollar effort that may have been a net negative in effectiveness.
Dr. Yates explains this further in an article on LawOfficer.com:
“The answer to the recruiting crisis is not what we think. We’ve been handing out bonuses, developing awesome websites, and tacit-cool videos for the last few years and most of those agencies have not improved their recruiting. No one anywhere said they became a cop because they saw a website or a video. In fact, the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department has their lowest staffing in history, but they just won the “best video” award from Police One.”
Forehand told me of another city in a similar situation but where the city commission held the vendor’s feet to the fire, but still not meeting hiring goals. Nationally, we need 32,000 candidates to fill shoes based on all dimensions of attrition.
I mentioned this in a previous article where I said that there is no way you can tell me that we can’t net at least two viable police officer candidates per year per high school graduating class in this country. I’m not suggesting that they become police officers right away but go to college or the military – or both. But based on my article in March 2024 here is the math: We have nearly 24,000 high schools in the United States. Is it too much to ask that two, per school and per year, on average, track towards law enforcement in their college careers?
Leadership, Action, and Accountability in Recruitment
Mike Forehand also recognizes how badly we are responding to the actual crisis – the crisis of inaction and entrenched thinking:
“With long term and historically low unemployment coupled with potential officer retirement cliffs on the horizon; the need to modernize police recruiting has never been more crucial. Law enforcement is no longer a generational profession and potential candidates have more career options than ever. Law enforcement simply must evolve their approach to recruiting if they are going to compete in the current talent market.”
I’m not receiving any financial support from either Safeguard Recruiting or Police Hiring Solutions (PHS) to share this information. For the record, I’m a huge fan of financial support so if you reach out, please let them know that I sent you and suggest that they pay me! In all seriousness, I have the attitude of the sower of seeds. I might be off by five bucks, but can you imagine that if you engaged Safeguard, your ROI on $25 would be one viable candidate. Engaging PHS would provide training to support and manage each candidate through the recruiting process.
This requires leadership taking an honest look at themselves and understanding that when we invest in recruiting, we can expect a certain return. The days are gone where leaders can use the excuse ‘since it is a crisis, nothing can be done about it.’
Please keep all first responders, including ECS operators, in your prayers.
Roland Clee served a major Florida police department as a Community Service Officer for more than 26 years. His career included uniformed patrol, training, media relations, intelligence, criminal investigations, and chief’s staff. He writes the American Peace Officer newsletter, speaks at public safety, recruiting and leadership conferences and helps local governments and public safety agencies through his business, CommandStaffConsulting.com. His work is frequently featured on LawOfficer.com, the only law enforcement owned major media presence in the public safety realm.
He also serves as the Director of Engagement for Shepherds and Sheepdogs, LTD on the team hosting the inaugural conference in Orlando, May 12-14, 2025. Three days of exceptional speakers who will help you revolutionize the way we treat, train, and lead! Click below to find out more.
References:
https://www.lawofficer.com/police-recruiting-scam/
https://www.minneapolismn.gov/government/jobs/job-openings/featured-jobs/
https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/minneapolis-launches-1-million-police-recruitment-campaign/
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2024/03/06/minneapolis-launches-1m-recruitment-campaign-for-mpd
I always learn so much when I read one of your articles.
FYI: I didn't get this in my in-box.