Ten years ago, the “recruiting crunch” or “cop crunch” was the dominant human resource (HR) issue in U.S. policing.1 Since then, however, the Great Recession has altered the HR landscape.2 Instead of actively searching for applicants, most police departments have endured budget cuts and many have reduced the number of positions. Those agencies still able to recruit, however, have enjoyed the benefit of increased numbers of applicants—a poor economy is usually good for police recruiting.
With support from the National Institute of Justice, short surveys were administered in 2013, aimed at identifying today’s most pressing HR issues in policing. Identical surveys were sent to (a) 1,891 employers registered with the Discover Policing website (306 respondents); (b) 1,107 subscribers to IACP’s Big Ideas newsletter, aimed at smaller agencies (379 respondents); and (c) all 70 members of the Major City/County Chiefs Association (32 respondents). The 717 responses were received from a diverse crosssection of law enforcement agencies and jurisdictions, both small and large, although sheriff’s departments were underrepresented.3
