Big Police Recruiting Starts With Small Action!

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Feeling overwhelmed with police recruiting, your vacancy numbers, and/or the task of trying to get everybody on board with your plan for tackling the whole thing?  😩

I’ve been there.  Here are three little steps you can start taking today that will have you making giant recruitment leaps later...keep reading! 👀

Hey everyone, it’s Tom Sye your Police Marketing FTO, and this week, let’s talk about action and more specifically the little steps you can start taking today that will lead to big results for your police recruiting in the future. 🚀

Whenever I talk with folks at agencies who are struggling, it usually comes down to a trio of the same common complaints…we can’t get anybody to apply, there just simply aren’t enough people showing up to our testing events, and rather frequently lately, I can’t get my staff or human resources department to see that recruiting has changed. 🤦‍♂️

Any one of those three, on its own, is enough to send your blood pressure and stress levels through the roof and if you’re dealing with two or worse still…all three at once…things can seem very grim and can cripple your motivation to try and fix it. 😟

So, with those common issues in mind, here are three small and completely manageable steps you can start taking today to combat these and get things moving in the right direction…

Action step 1: Make a police recruiting ‘now hiring’ post on social media

I’ve talked about this a lot recently and I’m going to keep doing it because this tiny step, which is so simple to pull off, is one of the most overlooked pieces to the recruiting puzzle that agencies continue to sleep on and dismiss. 😴

It really comes down to a simple concept…if you want to get more people applying to your agency you need to tell them about your openings and encourage them to do so!  Much in the same way that despite the fact that everyone on the planet knows exactly where to go to grab a pizza…you still see advertisements for pizza places, even popular ones.  They want to keep their brand fresh of the brains of consumers. 🍕

You need to do be doing the same, but don’t confuse advertising with having to pay to get your message out.  A free and easy to make post on your agencies social media page announcing the opening, featuring some of the benefits people will receive when they work for you and providing a link to apply is more than enough to get the ball rolling. 📈

Action step 2: Try opening continuously

If you have people applying but not showing up it’s likely because it’s not convenient for them to do so.  This is especially prevalent when you have set application periods that only open up once or twice a year. ⛓️

Look, I get the philosophy that if someone wants this job bad enough, they’ll do whatever it takes to show up and get it…but the problem with that is…it’s just not practical anymore.  Everyone is hiring…in every industry.  💯 

Applicants have more choices today than ever and this is going to sound harsh but, quite frankly, they don’t need you or your job.  They can go just about anywhere and get the same. 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♀️

So, if you want to see more people showing up to your testing…try out, even if it’s just for a couple of months, being open continuously and having testing dates available at least once a month.  Spoiler alert: this is going to work and you’ll wonder what took you so long to do this. 🤯  

Action Step 3: Educate the roadblocks

Having problems getting staff or human resources to buy into what you’re saying?  Well, you have two choices…you can argue with them until your blue in the face or you can start educating them as to why you want to do what you want to do! 🧑‍🏫

There are tons of resources online, like studies, articles, research papers and videos talking about generational habits when it comes to hiring, what is expected from employers in 2025, and yes…just like you’re watching right now…videos about recruiting practices advising you from experience as to what works or doesn’t work anymore. 🧠

The simple action for you to take here is to start sharing these educational materials with those standing in your way.  The more they see them, the more they will realize things really have changed and if they want to be successful, they need to change right along with them.  Caution: some people take longer to come to this realization than others but don’t let that discourage you…keep sharing! 🙌

Want an even easier hack for this? 🙋‍♀️🙋‍♂️

Subscribe to my Marketing ‘For Cops’ Newsletter which I publish every Thursday morning and just forward that to them!  I’ll pound the information they need into their heads, trust me! 🔨

All right; there you have it.  Three very small and quite easy to implement steps you can take today that will lead to big leaps in your police recruitment.  Give them all a try and let me know how it goes, ok? 🗣️

Now…need some more insight on how to get your police recruiting heading in the right direction? 🎯

Check out my Road to Better Recruiting online recruitment course which will teach you the exact same mindset, philosophy, and strategies that I’ve used at my own agency for the past decade plus to attract high quality Police Officer applicant’s month after month, year after year, without wasting a ton of money on recruiting solutions that don’t work! 💪

See everything you’ll learn on my website by visiting forcopstraining.com/rtbr

Know someone in recruiting who might be struggling to make any progress?  Share this newsletter with them so they can learn too.  It’s gonna take all of us, working together, to change the future of police recruiting forever. 🤝

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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