This month’s Police Chief is dedicated to diversity, equity, and inclusion. In this issue, you will find articles on accountable and inclusive policing, cultural competency, fostering an inclusive work environment, and interacting with individuals from different backgrounds.

These concepts are critical to agencies’ efforts to successfully engage with and police their communities. Departments are continually asked to ensure that their officers represent and reflect the diversity of the communities they serve. And, as we seek to build a diverse workforce and to identify applicants that reflect our communities, the law enforcement profession is facing a profound crisis in police recruitment. Agencies are struggling to identify quality candidates who will be able to meet the realistic expectations of the job. (For more information on the recruiting challenges faced by police agencies, please see The State of Recruitment: A Crisis for Law Enforcement report on the IACP website.)

However, this challenge is not limited to finding new recruits, but it also includes identifying and recruiting experienced leaders and officers to replace those who have left the profession. Over the past several years, the policing profession has seen an increasing number of police officers and leaders who have retired or otherwise left the policing profession, often leaving voids that our organizations have struggled to fill.

The loss of these experienced officers and leaders has made an already difficult challenge even tougher. We, as police leaders, need to be cognizant of the strain this puts on our officers and agencies. As vacancy numbers increase due to the inability to fill positions and more officers continue to become eligible for retirement, existing officers are becoming overworked and burned out. As the importance of officer mental wellness is now widely recognized, it is essential that our profession engage in dedicated, forward-leaning, and innovative efforts to recruit, hire, and retain officers.

“It is essential that our profession engage in dedicated, forward-leaning, and innovative efforts to recruit, hire, and retain officers.”

Law enforcement agencies need to thoughtfully explore new recruitment and hiring practices without lowering the standards for the quality of officers that their peers and communities have come to expect. To attract people into the profession, many agencies are offering signing bonuses, implementing shift-sharing, relaxing certain policies (e.g., prohibitions on tattoos or facial hair), and providing officers with take-home cars. All of these are good steps to get people in the door, but we also need to make sure that, as leaders, we remove barriers where they arise to ensure an inclusive work environment—a work environment where those who join can excel, thrive, and be happy.

It is for this reason that the IACP launched the Women in Policing Task Force this past year. Fifteen police leaders, representing police agencies and associations of diverse size and geographic location from around the world, came together to examine this important topic. Members spoke to both the challenges of and strategies for increasing gender diversity and highlighted the need for expanded and ongoing research to enable a better understanding of what attracts women to the field and what approaches are most effective in retaining them.

Based on the critical conversations that took place throughout the task force’s meetings, it is my pleasure to announce the launch of the IACP Women in Policing Resource Webpage. This webpage offers viewers a one-stop shop for resources related to women in policing, including articles; reports; policies; and leading practices regarding recruitment, hiring, retention, and promotion. It is my hope that this page will remain a dynamic resource, with new materials added over time to reflect evolving research and advancements within the field.

I encourage each of you to check out this resource as we work together to create a more diverse policing profession.

Be well; stay safe; and as always, thank you for all you do each and every day.

Please cite as

Cynthia E. Renaud, “Reflecting the Communities We Serve,” President’s Message, Police Chief 88, no. 8 (August 2021): 6–7.