Police agencies across the globe are struggling to recruit, hire, and retain police officers. For years now, we’ve seen news stories and statistics about how the profession is seeing an exodus of officers—departments are suffering personnel shortages, agencies are having difficulty recruiting candidates, and departments are relaxing policies and offering incentives to help lure people into the profession. Though agency-specific needs depend on size or locale, the difficulty with recruitment is a significant problem that is broadly affecting the policing profession on a global scale.

I just recently returned from a trip to the Australia/New Zealand Policing Advisory Agency Annual Conference in Melbourne, Australia, and recruitment and retention was a huge discussion point. It was also widely spoken about at the IACP Annual Conference in Dallas, Texas, with several workshops on the topic. It seems as if recruitment and retention is a focal point of the agenda at every meeting or conference I attend.

As all police leaders know, the success of a department’s recruitment, hiring, and retention efforts impacts every other function in the agency. For years, police agencies offered good, stable employment with excellent benefits. A readily available workforce enabled many police leaders to focus on other priorities, but that is no longer the case. It wasn’t too many years ago when I could count on up to 10 applicants for every open position I had, but now, like many of you, I am lucky to get a handful of applicants during each posting. Couple that with several unqualified applicants, and it is clear that our recruiting problem is real.

As we struggle to recruit new officers to replace those who have retired or otherwise left the policing profession, we are seeing a significant increase in the strain on police organizations and officers. As vacancy numbers increase due to the inability to fill positions and as more officers become eligible for retirement, existing officers are becoming overworked and burned out. The demands on our officers have not been reduced. In fact, our communities continue to have high expectations of their police agencies, and as leaders in the profession, we strive to meet and exceed those expectations. At a time when the importance of officer mental wellness is more widely recognized, to the ability to recruit, hire, and retain officers becomes increasingly important.

Additionally, staffing shortages mean that we may not be able to offer the same services to our communities. However, cutting certain services often impacts community-police relations and our ability to establish strong and trusting relationships. Longer wait times for calls for service, fewer crimes solved and cleared, less proactive activities such as traffic enforcement, and on-duty officers who are burned out and overworked threaten the quality of life in our communities.

Officers who are burned out and overworked threaten the quality of life in our communities.

Any high-profile incident of use of force creates a shockwave around the globe, with enhanced public scrutiny and attention. This enhanced focus by the media, public, and elected officials has caused many to leave the profession—and given pause to those considering a career in law enforcement to ask themselves, “Is it really worth it?” Still, trust in most communities is increasing and support for police is returning.

The growing number of line-of-duty deaths and the inherent risk of the profession have contributed to a negative perception of policing as a career opportunity for potential recruits. As a father with two sons in the profession, not a day goes by that I don’t worry about my children, as well as my officers. And I know many of you who come from policing families and serve as police leaders feel the same way. We want the best for our profession, our agencies, our communities, and our families—as police leaders, we care immensely for those in our charge.

So how can we, as a profession move forward to attract candidates, retain our officers, and keep those in our charge safe? How do we thoughtfully amend recruitment and hiring practices without lowering the standards for officers that communities have come to expect?

It’s not a problem that can be simply solved, but IACP is working to aid you and your agencies. IACP remains steadfast in calling on the U.S. Congress to expand COPS hiring funds and explore ways to incentivize careers in law enforcement and promote recruitment and retention through a national campaign. We are also asking for other creative incentive programs such as loan forgiveness and education assistance. For example, an education assistance program could be modeled after and expanded upon programs like the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) or an education assistance program that would pay for four years of college, in return for service in policing, could be a draw for applicants. Ideally the program would be connected to multiple universities, including historically black colleges and universities, to encourage diversity.

Additionally, IACP’s Elevate Blue: Essential Training for Law Enforcement is a virtual training suite addressing contemporary issues facing the law enforcement profession. Funded through a cooperative agreement with the U.S Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance, Elevate Blue is built on an adult-learning instructional sequence framework that connects the learner to the content by using a foundation of knowledge and engaging learners through real-life scenarios. As one of six initial topic areas, Recruitment, Hiring, Training, and Retention is a comprehensive virtual course broken into four modules that focus on best practices in acquiring and retaining top law enforcement candidates. These modules demonstrate the importance of solid recruitment, hiring, training, and retention strategies, and delve into methods for evaluating hiring practices, identifying quality candidates, and maintaining sustainable measures for retaining good personnel. The Elevate Blue training suite is expected to launch in early 2023 and will be available at no cost on IACP’s learning platform, IACPlearn.

The IACP also has a newly incorporated Human Resources Section that can be a potential partner in best practices and a good resource for your agency. The section is focused on effective human resource programs for police agencies and information related to programs and policy on hiring, recruitment, retention, and career development and advancement for sworn and professional staff. I encourage you and members of your agencies to join the section.

A chief’s job is never easy, and issues pertaining to recruitment, hiring, and retention only add to the challenges you face. While there may not be a simple solution for such a widespread and complex problem, we can work to overcome the barriers that are hindering our agencies from recruiting and retaining top-level personnel who are devoted to the policing profession. The IACP is here to help you along the way, offering resources and advocating on your behalf to promote stronger recruitment, hiring, and retention policies to minimize burnout, increase officer safety and wellness, and enhance community-police relations.d

Please cite as:

John Letteney, “Partnering to Address Recruitment & Retention,” President’s Message, Police Chief 89, no. 12 (December 2022): 6–7.