Strategy #21
Recruitment
Identify and apply effective recruiting techniques and programs
to increase the qualified applicant pool.
Background
With improved economic conditions locally and nationally, the potential candidate pool for recruiting persons into law enforcement will significantly decrease. Additionally, as candidates decrease, maintaining cultural diversity in the workplace through hiring decreases as well. This shortfall will be felt by many police agencies. To address this problem, police agencies will need increased funding and efforts for recruitment. This creates competition for potential trainees. When economic conditions deteriorate, the availability of candidates will increase. This phenomenon will also decrease tax dollars, and agencies will have difficulty funding new personnel.
Actions
- Increase scope of recruitment. Traveling outside of an agency jurisdiction for recruitment can be a very effective tool. Recruitment officers should have the ability to attend national job fairs and visit college campuses.
- Solicit grants, many of which provide for the hiring of officers for traffic-related and community-oriented policing positions. A program should be encouraged that funds the officers and the recruitment activities to fill those positions. This type of program should include traffic safety positions.
- Involve all personnel in recruiting. Surveys conducted on cadets to ascertain how they became interested in a career in law enforcement indicate that about half were recruited through personal contact with a “nonrecruiting” officer. To that extent, every employee of a department should be encouraged to actively seek out qualified candidates throughout the course of their workday and in their personal life. Allow ride-along programs and encourage officer contacts in the schools.
- Establish intern programs. Many agencies have programs for working with young persons while in high school such as working fairs, directing traffic in parking lots, community service, and so forth. However, by the time these young candidates finish high school, they move away from the program, as college and financial self-sufficiency become increasingly important. This program would hire interns part time to continue with a department and prepare them for entrance into a law enforcement academy.
- Form advisory committees to provide input into recruiting activities.
- Consider employing an advertising agency consultant. Due to the nationwide scope of recruitment efforts, the assistance of a professional advertising agency in developing campaign themes could significantly improve effectiveness.
- Consider incentives for recruitment efforts.
- Consider establishing a mentoring program for both applicants and cadets.
- Select mentors who have a sincere interest in assisting cadets.
Benefits
- More candidates applying for traffic safety positions.
- Focused recruitment by advertising for women and minorities.
- Grant funding is sometimes available for programs to ease the burden on state/local budgets.
- Applicants/cadets can receive encouragement and approach their mentor with their problems or concerns.
- Mentors’ assistance will result in more cadets completing the academy and thus save the agency training dollars.
Other Considerations
- As programs are established and funded, a proportionate level of overhead costs related to a program also occur. A department may not have the staffing or physical means to support new programs.
- Departments may not have adequate administrative staff to supervise additional recruitment programs and personnel.
- If grant funding purchases equipment for recruitment programs, departments may not have in existing budgets the funds available to support ongoing expenses related to the equipment.
- Issues of lateral recruitment should be considered.
- Mentoring might take officers away from their primary duties.