Law Enforcement Recruitment Toolkit

U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services Law Enforcement Recruitment Toolkit Law Enforcement Recruitment Toolkit COPS/IACP Leadership Project June 2009 This project was supported by Grant Number 2005 -HS-WX-K003 awarded by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions contained herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. References to specific agencies, companies, products, or services should not be considered an endorsement by the authors or the U.S. Department of Justice. Rather, the references are illustrations to supplement discussion of the issues. The Internet references cited in this publication were valid as of July 2009. Given that URLs and web sites are in constant flux, neither the authors nor the COPS Office can vouch for their current validity. Letter from the President Letter from the President Dear Law Enforcement Colleagues, Recruiting and staffing shortfalls continue to plague law enforcement agencies across the United States. New challenges in the 21st century, including military call-ups, a greater number of retirements, homeland security obligations, and increased competition, have combined to make the problem more acute. While many agencies are struggling, others are moving forward with innovative approaches. The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) has partnered with the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (the COPS Office) in the COPS/IACP Collaborative Leadership Project to bring these innovative recruitment techniques to the fore through a new publication, the Law Enforcement Recruitment Toolkit. The toolkit comprises four reports, each focusing on a different area of recruitment. The lead piece,Police Recruitment: Foundation Concepts, describes police departments’ changing recruitment needs, the obstacles that stand between the departments and their recruitment goals, and the strategies that some jurisdictions are using to overcome those obstacles. Each subsequent report, Recruiting for Diversity, Agency Collaboration in Police Officer Recruitment and Selection, and Community Partnership in Police Recruitment, explores a specific approach to recruitment and provides specific examples of successes in these areas. Recruitment issues have been the focus of much of the work of the IACP for a number of years. This toolkit is one step among many in addressing the recruitment needs of the field. The issues of police recruitment, selection, and retention are critical to the advancement of community policing and the policing profession in general. We hope this toolkit will serve as a valuable resource for law enforcement agencies, their administrators, and others in the community committed to advancing community policing. Sincerely, Russell B. Laine President, IACP Chief of Police, Algonquin (Illinois) Police Department iii| Acknowledgments Acknowledgments The IACP is indebted to a number of people who lent their time and talent to make this toolkit possible. We thank the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (the COPS Office), particularly former Director Carl Peed, for determining the need for this toolkit and for providing both financial and programmatic support. We are especially grateful to Senior Policy Analyst Albert Antony Pearsall III who served as our project monitor. He was actively involved throughout the evolution of this project and provided valuable ideas, guidance, and support. We are grateful to the hundreds of police agencies that responded to the IACP’s recruitment survey, the results of which helped to frame this toolkit. We additionally thank those respondents who were willing to share their recruitment materials and resources. A number of subject matter experts served as reviewers and/or contributing authors for this project. Their efforts were essential in framing and developing this toolkit, and we are greatly appreciative of their contributions. Ronald McBride Steve Loyka Andrew Morabito Peter Regner Gregg Walker IACP Diversity Coordinating Panel. David Bostrom IACP Staff: Dan Rosenblatt Phil Lynn Executive Director Manager, National Law Enforcement Policy Center James McMahon John Markovic Deputy Executive Director Program Manager Jerry Needle Tracy Phillips Director, Programs and Research Division Senior Project Specialist. Kim Kohlhepp Manager, Center for Testing Services and Executive Search Finally, we wish to thank two COPS Office contractors: Judith Beres, for editing the toolkit; and Nancy Carlsen, for the publication design. v| Contents The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (the COPS Office) is the component of the U.S. Department of Justice responsible for advancing the practice of community policing by the nation’s state, local, territory, and tribal law enforcement agencies through information and grant resources. Community policing is a philosophy that promotes organizational strategies which support the systematic use of partnerships and problem-solving techniques, to proactively address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues such as crime, social disorder, and fear of crime. Rather than simply responding to crimes once they have been committed, community policing concentrates on preventing crime and eliminating the atmosphere of fear it creates. Earning the trust of the community and making those individuals stakeholders in their own safety enables law enforcement to better understand and address both the needs of the community and the factors that contribute to crime. The COPS Office awards grants to state, local, territory, and tribal law enforcement agencies to hire and train community policing professionals, acquire and deploy cutting-edge crime-fighting technologies, and develop and test innovative policing strategies. COPS Office funding also provides training and technical assistance to community members and local government leaders and all levels of law enforcement. The COPS Office has produced and compiled a broad range of information resources that can help law enforcement better address specific crime and operational issues, and help community leaders better understand how to work cooperatively with their law enforcement agency to reduce crime. • Since 1994, the COPS Office has invested more than $12 billion to add community policing officers to the nation’s streets, enhance crime fighting technology, support crime prevention initiatives, and provide training and technical assistance to help advance community policing. • By the end of FY 2008, the COPS Office had funded approximately 117,000 additional officers to more than 13,000 of the nation’s 18,000 law enforcement agencies across the country in small and large jurisdictions alike. • Nearly 500,000 law enforcement personnel, community members, and government leaders have been trained through COPS Office-funded training organizations. • As of 2009, the COPS Office has distributed more than 2 million topic-specific publications, training curricula, white papers, and resource CDs. Contents CONTENTS Police Recruitment: Foundation Concepts .................................................................3 State of Police Staffing .................................................................................3 Changes in Police Recruitment Needs .............................................................4 Factors That Hinder Police Recruitment ............................................................5 Unfavorable Demographic and Social Trends ...................................... 5 Lack of Diversity in Some Police Departments....................................... 5 Unattractiveness of Paramilitary Organizations ..................................... 6 Intense Competition for Candidates ................................................... 6 Bureaucratic and Burdensome Personnel Regulations ............................. 6 Strategies to Improve Recruitment ...................................................................7 Collaborate with Other Police Agencies ............................................. 7 Engage the Community ................................................................... 7 Improve Relations with External Human Resource Offices and Elected Officials .................................................... 8 Streamline Your Recruitment and Selection Process ................................ 9 Involve Everyone in the Department in Recruitment ...............................10 Put Someone in Charge of Recruiting ................................................10 Tell the Police Story .......................................................................10 Enhance Web Outreach ................................................................12 Enlist the Support of the Media ........................................................12 Reach Out to the Young .................................................................13 Hire Younger—and Older ..............................................................13 Hire Transitional Workers ...............................................................13 Mentor Applicants Through the Process .............................................14 vii| Law Enforcement Recruitment Toolkit Contents Appendix: A Closer Look at the IACP Recruitment Survey .................................15 Methodology ..............................................................................15 Analysis of Structured Survey Questions.........................................................16

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