With law enforcement agencies across the United States facing staffing shortages, along with high rates of attrition, programs to support law enforcement personnel at all levels of their career, from recruits to seasoned professionals, are needed. Mentoring is a strategy that can help with recruitment and retention, as well as aid with building diversity within leadership roles.
Mentoring was found to be the most impactful activity for increasing diversity and inclusion at work, compared to diversity training and a variety of other initiatives.1 Receiving mentorship from senior males can increase compensation and career progress satisfaction for women, particularly for those working in male-dominated industries.2 Given that women still represent under 14 percent of all law enforcement officers, mentoring can help retain those already in the agency while showing potential applicants that an agency understands the need for diversity.
In the law enforcement profession, the topic of mentoring has been discussed for two decades, but little has been done to broadly institutionalize the process. Chief Harvey Sprafka (Ret.) of Knoxville, Iowa, and Lieutenant April H. Kranda (Ret.) of Fairfax County, Virginia, authored a guide several years ago, and the National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executives (NAWLEE) has been providing training for the past several years, but a lack of funding has limited implementation of mentoring programs.3
