The Recruiting Crisis Myth

Calling It A Crisis Is An Excuse To Not Fix It

Another week has gone by and we are once again told that law enforcement can’t recruit officers. This time, the article came from Governing, which is content directed towards government leaders.

I’ve written about recruiting in the past and the longer I see leaders buying into these myths, the more I’m leaning in to trying to help. After all, what good is leadership if there is no one to lead and if law enforcement leadership doesn’t wake up soon, that will be a reality.

Fortunately, others are also sounding the alarm. This excellent piece by Roland Clee is just one example.

The Myths

There was nothing new in Governing and all of it has been a perpetuated myth to mask the real issue with recruiting.

Law enforcement has yet to recover from a workforce decline due to the pandemic and protests against police.

Many young people are concerned about pay and potential danger, preferring jobs that they can do remotely.

Some departments are trying to tighten lengthy recruitment processes or offering bonuses.

Also on the list of excuses from previous mythical writings is the war on cops, politicians, pay, benefits, etc.

None of it is true and here is why.

First, many agencies don’t have an issue with recruiting. Either through sound recruiting practices that don’t mirror 1995 practices or they have built a culture that invites employees to the profession, the idea that there is some overall problem in the entire profession is simply not true.

A so called “crisis” indicates that it is some sort of insurmountable problem that can’t be fixed so it becomes an excuse or mere acceptance that nothing can be done about it.

Solve It Now

If you are reading this and you indeed have a shortage of officers, know this. It can be solved quickly but there is no time to waste. The longer it goes on, the more difficult it will become to catch up and the easier it becomes to accept it.

Training

Recruiting in the private industry is such a high level skill, companies utilize professional recruiting firms to do the job. While law enforcement did not have a need for these skills a decade ago, that time has now come. At a recent leadership seminar, I was told by an agency recruiter that there wasn’t an organization or certification for law enforcement recruiters. They were simply doing what the last recruiter did and they did what the recruiter did before them.

They were right and I set out to fix it. I’ve been conducting training for SAFEGUARD Recruiting for a while and I had previously filmed a free training that explained the recruiting philosophy but it was time to dive much deeper into the topic. SAFEGUARD just rolled out that course and it will not only tell you step by step what needs to be done, but they use their client case studies to prove it.

It’s a small investment to take the class but they have extended a 50% discount to my readers this month. You can use the code: GETRECRUITSNOW at checkout and get the course for just $99.

Data

I’m continually amazed at the money being spent at agencies on websites, videos, billboards, etc. and the agency still doesn’t know if the efforts are helping. When private companies hire recruiting firms, they ask two questions.

What does it cost and how many applicants will I get?

Law enforcement needs to do the same and there is no reason why that can’t be done. All of that and more is explained in the above training course but you can reach out to me direct and I will be glad to explain it.

Recruiting vs. Marketing

The biggest issue that only perpetuates the myth that there is a recruiting crisis is utilizing marketing firms for a recruiting function. If your department needs a police chief, they aren’t spending thousands on branding and marketing to find a chief.

They hire a recruiting firm to bring them candidates and that is exactly what law enforcement needs to do for new hires. That doesn’t mean that marketing is a waste of money but it will be a waste if you think it will solve hiring. If marketing could solve that issue, it would be called recruiting and not marketing.

Don’t Be Fooled

Lastly, don’t be fooled by fancy websites and emotional videos. If those worked, the recruiting would be solved and it’s far from solved. If someone tells you they can help with recruiting, ask them two simple questions.

What does it cost and how many applicants will I get?

If they can actually recruit, they will give you a definite answer and they will have a long list of happy clients willing to tell you about their success.

Conclusion

As I said earlier, I’ve gone pretty deep on this issue because I see it as THE priority for leaders at this time in our history and I’ve been hosting a weekly show on the topic. I spoke with Doug Larsen at SAFEGUARD Recruiting specifically about the above mentioned article and I think you will be interested in what he had to say.

I do not see any of this as a recruiting crisis, but rather a leadership crisis. Better decisions must be made on how we recruit and once those decisions are made, we will then get beyond the myths and on to the solutions.

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Dr. Travis Yates retired as a commander with a large municipal police department after 30 years of service. He is the author of “The Courageous Police Leader: A Survival Guide for Combating Cowards, Chaos & Lies.” His risk management and leadership seminars have been taught to thousands of professionals across the world. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy with a Doctorate Degree in Strategic Leadership and the CEO of the Courageous Police Leadership Alliance.