3 Keys to Effective Police Recruiting in 2026!

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Feeling pulled in ten different directions with police recruiting right now? 😖

It’s easy to feel that way with all the new systems, new tools, and new “guaranteed” recruiting solutions hitting your inbox every week, right?  😑

Look, let me simplify this whole thing for you.  Here are the three keys to effective police recruiting in 2026...keep reading! 👀

Hey everyone, it’s Tom Sye your Police Marketing FTO, and if you’re anything like the police recruiters I talk to every single week, you’re getting hammered with pitches, new software, new systems, new advertising campaigns, and people promising to “fix” your recruiting for you if you just sign on the dotted line. ✍️

Trust me…I get all those calls and emails at my agency too and it’s enough to make you wonder just what the heck you’re supposed to do next and what exactly is recruiting in 2026, gonna be all about. 🤷

Well, let me clear it up for you... 👇

✔️Yes, recruiting has changed. 

✔️Yes, applicants have changed…

✔️And yes, technology has changed.

But you know what hasn’t?  The foundation of police recruiting.  That hasn’t changed at all.  It’s the same as it always has been. 💯

So, let me remind you what that’s all about with my three keys to effective police recruiting in 2026…

Key 1.  Meet your applicants where they’re at

Let me make this super simple for you...if you want to reach people, you have to go where they are…not where just where you want to be or are used to being. 🤯

It’s time to finally accept the fact that your applicants are not hanging out at job fairs.  They’re not reading flyers loaded with information. And sorry to disappoint you and all that money you spent, but they’re not stumbling upon your fancy high tech website and saying to themselves, 'wow, this is the place for me'. 💔

Nope.  Your applicants are scrolling social media and they’re scrolling there…all the time. 😎

Listen, having a strong presence on social media isn’t an option anymore.  It’s not an “extra” task or something you do when you have time.  It’s the recruiting table of 2026. 📣

If you’re still treating it like something you’ll get around to instead of the living, breathing place it is to find applicants, then you’re missing a gigantic recruiting opportunity, and it’s sitting right there in front of you. 🌟

Meet your applicants where they’re at and get on social media. 🎯   

Key 2.  Build a relationship with them

Ok, now that I’ve got you pointed to the right place, the next major mistake agencies make is trying to jump straight to the “apply now” ask. 📝

Look, I know you want high quality applicants, and you want them now…but unfortunately, that’s not how humans work. People don’t make life-changing decisions because they saw one post, one billboard, or even talked to a recruiter once while they were out and about. 🙂‍↔️

People decide things based on trust…trust that has been built over time. ⏳️

So, how do you develop trust on social media?  By answering questions in the comments section.  By acknowledging interest in your reply to someone.  By being consistent in the messaging of every single post you make. 🤩 

You don’t need a script.  You don’t need a system.  You don’t even need a marketing degree.  You just need to be a normal person who is talking to normal people. 😃

Recruiting like it’s 2026 will reward agencies willing to talk with people…not at them. 🗣️

Key 3.  Show these normal people that people like them, work for you

To be as clear as I can possibly be with you, this key is where everything is either going to click or completely fall apart for you when it comes to your police recruiting. 👍️👎️

It’s very trendy for agencies these days to hit potential applicants with posts featuring dramatic music, high risk calls, officers decked out in tactical gear and all of the popular specialty units and things they get to do every day. 👮

I’ve told you this before and it’s important for me to tell you again…yes, that stuff looks really cool and is super attractive to people who have always had a passion for being Police Officers.  But guess what?  You were getting them anyway without even having to try. 😐️

These optics, however, do very poorly in attracting what I like to call ‘normal people’.  The people who are simply wandering through life right now trying to find themselves.  The ones who have a sense of service to their community, want to show others like them that they can do big things too, and those who have maybe never even thought about being a Police Officer before but would actually be pretty darned good at it.  These are the people who can fill your ranks tenfold and often are ignored in every day recruiting strategies.  🤔 

When you show normal people someone from your agency that looks like them, talks like them, and lives a life they can relate to, something very powerful happens…they stop scrolling, they lean in, and they start imagining themselves on your team. 💪

Make no mistake…this reaction isn’t a marketing trick…it’s human psychology.  And agencies that understand this are going to be the ones winning with police recruiting in 2026. 🏆️

Now…everything I just talked about isn’t anywhere near complicated, but it does require confidence to execute this strategy consistently. That confidence doesn’t come from guessing or copying what other agencies are doing. It comes from understanding recruiting at a deeper level and knowing exactly why things work the way they work.  🧠

Online police recruiting training now available!

This is where my Road to Better Recruiting online training course comes in very handy. It’ll give you clarity, confidence, and a clear direction forward so you’re not second-guessing

every recruiting or marketing decision you have to make. 🙌

Check it out right now on my website by visiting forcopstraining.com/rtbr and take control of your police recruiting. 🚀

Know someone in recruiting who could really benefit from these 3 keys in 2026?  Share this newsletter with them so they can learn too!  The future of our profession will be sure glad that you did. 🤝

Have more questions about police recruiting, marketing, or anything else you're struggling with? Don't hesitate to reach out...I’m always here to help. 🙏

Until next week my Police Marketing Squad, happy recruiting! 😃

Tom

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👋 I’m Tom Sye, your Police Marketing FTO. I founded ‘For Cops’ Training to teach Police Departments how to attract more qualified candidates through the same tried and tested methods I’ve used for the past ten years at my own department to keep up with turnover and stay ahead of vacancies.

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