Police Recruiting is a Long Game!

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Look, I get it.  You’ve got vacancies.  You’ve had them forever…and you need them filled like yesterday.  I’ve been there. 🙋

But before you go chasing recruiting solutions that are promising you a quick fix to your problems, let me remind you of the most overlooked fact agencies miss when it comes to police recruiting...keep reading! 👀

Hey everyone, it’s Tom Sye your Police Marketing FTO, and this week, let’s talk about those police recruiting expectations of yours.  Like I said in the open…I get it.  You need bodies and you need them now.  Trust me…I know exactly how you’re feeling…it’s not fun. 😩

But before you go filling your applicant hopper with candidates some outside company poached for you, you sign up for motivational coaching programs to get your police recruiters all jazzed up, or you start throwing thousands and thousands of dollars at recruiting solutions hoping that something sticks…let me remind you of this... 👇 

👉 Police recruiting is a long game!

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times…you’re recruiting problems weren’t created overnight and they’re not going to be solved overnight either.  The only way you’re going to win is by...

A. Having the right recruiting mindset

And...

B. Having the right amount of the right resources in the right places.

Literally nothing else you try will work long term until those two things are true. 💯

I don’t care how many outside company solutions or advertising products you invest in that they say will get you ‘everything you need’…if you’re looking for a quick fix, you are negatively skewing your expectations and setting yourself up for failure. 👎

Let’s fix that.  Here are three areas to temper your expectations so you can be both realistic and eventually successful... 

1. Police Officer Applications

Every agency around the country is screaming the same thing…we need more applications.  Unable to figure out how to get them on their own, they turn to some outside company who merely runs ads on social media and starts producing applications for you.  Everything seems great.  It’s working, you think. 😀 

Then…you realize most of those people applying aren’t showing up for testing.  And the ones that do, aren’t really that great to begin with because they’re not invested in your agency. 😑

This happens because you…as a police agency, aren’t investing in them.  An outside company is.  It takes time to build a relationship with applicants.  Like a real relationship.  One that makes them confident your agency is the kind of place people like them work. 🤩

That’s what gets them to show up, that’s what gets them through your hiring process, and that’s what makes them stay at your agency long term.  There’s no shortcut for this…you have to do it yourself and prove it to people over and over again, over time.  😎

2. Training your personnel

I keep seeing these coaching programs popping up all over the place where someone comes in for a couple days or even a week, talks to your whole staff as a group, gives them the rah-rah spiel and some generic ideas of how to get things moving. 📣 

Everyone is pretty stoked for a couple of days and things are looking up.  Then…the next week comes, and the shine has worn off.  Everyone gets back to normal, and your recruiting problems are still right there…staring you in the face. 😳

Look, if you’re going to win with recruiting…your people need specialized training.  From someone who has actually worked in the field and knows what it’s like to stand there at a job fair, quietly evaluate people at police testing, or gather information during a background interview without your candidate ever feeling like they’re being judged. 💪

Learning takes time.  Training takes time.  Your people getting up to speed and feeling comfortable with what they’re doing takes time.  If you try to speed up this process, that’s when shortcuts get taken and bad hires start surfacing.  Be committed to training but also be patient. 👍

3. Police recruiting specific social media channels

I know, I know…it’s seems counterproductive to split your established police agency page into two separate entities, and when you do…it takes seemingly forever to build a loyal audience for your new police recruiting specific channel. ⌛

Here’s the facts though…you absolutely have to have a separate page for recruiting purposes and recruiting purposes only if you are anywhere near serious about filling your vacancies.  Your main page and your recruiting page are two entirely different audiences. ✌️

And secondly, yes…it does take seemingly forever to build a loyal audience for your new police recruiting specific channel.  There’s a good reason for that though.  You’re doing things correctly and that takes time. ✔️

You want a realistic timeframe?  I started our TikTok page at my agency back in July of last year (2024).  Here we are, 1 year later and are just now gaining traction on the app where people are regularly inquiring about applying and then actually doing so. 📝

The same thing happened with our Instagram account way back when we started it years ago. 👯‍♀️ 

Listen, you’re not looking for viral.  Nor are you looking for millions of followers.  You’re looking for the right candidates.  The ones who want to work for you and only you and will stay forever.  And you guessed it…that takes time. 🙂

Police recruiting is a long game…and if you want long term solutions you need to realize this in the short term. 🧠

Need some help building your long-term police recruiting strategy? 🙋‍♂️🙋‍♀️

My Road to Better Recruiting online recruitment training course has got you covered and will teach you everything you need to start recruiting like it’s 2025 and set yourself up for long-term success.  🙌

Check it out now by visiting forcopstraining.com/rtbr. 

Have a friend in recruiting whose expectations are a bit unrealistic?  Share this newsletter with them so they can learn too.  The future of our profession will thank you later. 🤝

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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