Recruitment and retaining young officers in law enforcement has become one of the most challenging internal issue within many police department throughout the United States. Majority of these law enforcement agencies will tell you that some of their biggest issues are recruiting and retaining sworn law enforcement officers. With that said, because of the current nature of policing in today’s society, recruiting younger law enforcement officers is more stressful and difficult than ever. In fact, majority of these law enforcement agencies are under sheer pressure because of the demands and expectations of the general public. Therefore, many law enforcement organizations are struggling to find potential candidates who are willing to step up …show more content…
While many law enforcement agencies are evaluating young potential candidates that will help build and strengthen their agencies, many of these young candidates are assessing potential police departments and the officers that are currently employed with them. Consequently, the younger generation is looking for incentives like a take home car programs, overtime, better salaries, longevity bonus every five years of service, paid general leave, more paid holidays per year, educational tuition reimbursement and most of all, bilingual compensation of 10% or more. For example, “It’s not uncommon for new police officers, 21 or 22 years old, fresh out of college to leave an agency for a raise of $500 or a take-home car or better equipment, and that’s something that we really haven’t seen in the history of policing,” said Ryan Alphin, executive director of the S.C. Law Enforcement Officers’ Association and the S.C. Police Chiefs Association (UpTown , …show more content…
This approach seems to be more effective because the officers will most likely maintain their employment with your agency overtime • Make sure the new candidates understand the police department mission, goals and the required physical appearance of potential police officers • Because the younger generation is fueled by our media driven society, law enforcement agencies should exploit your agency achievements through social media websites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram • Multiculturalism is very essential. By establishing the importance of diversity in your agency recruiting mission, this will demonstrate how strongly an agency is committed to the values of multiculturalism within their communities. For example, “View diversity recruitment from a holistic perspective in terms of community relations, rather than an isolated, independent action (O’BRIEN, April 2006).” • Exploit your agency’s characteristics and vision because this will allow your agency to recruit potential