Police Recruiting Roadblocks: Low Pay!

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Think your agency’s low pay is the reason you can’t fill your vacancies?  It’s a pretty common sentiment held by recruiters and staff alike all over the country.  😩

Here’s the thing though, it’s not really true. 🤯

Let me show you how to break through the recruiting roadblock of low pay...keep reading! 👀

Hey everyone, it’s Tom Sye your Police Marketing FTO, and this week, let’s talk about one of the biggest myths in all of police recruiting…and that is your agency’s pay has to be high for you to be able to recruit successfully. 🤥

Look, I’m not gonna sit here for one second and tell you that a high paying starting salary isn’t helpful…because it is…but believe you me, thinking that pay is the be all/end all in police recruiting is holding more agencies back than their actual salary numbers ever will. 💯

Listen, I’ve taught you this before and I’m going to teach it again: people don’t choose your agency because of pay, specialties, or any other magical thing that some outside company tells you will work.  If that were the case, everyone would simply work for the biggest agency with the most everything and the fact that every single police agency has employees working for them, even long-term ones, proves this. 🤷‍♂️

So, let’s talk about what really moves people towards your agency and what you can start doing today to crash through the recruiting roadblock of low pay... 

1. Police recruiting is about personality, not payroll

This is one hundred percent something agencies, whether they have a high pay scale or not, often forget when it comes to police recruiting…applicants don’t buy the company line of pay and benefits…they buy you…the one selling it to them! 🫵

Energy, normalcy, communication, follow-through and honesty will build trust with an applicant far quicker than any salary bump ever could and this is where you, as a Police Recruiter, can shine. 🌟

The biggest mistake that agencies make with applicants is that they make them feel they have to prove themself to the recruiter as opposed to the other way around.  If you want to build massive ‘I want to work there’ points with applicants, treat them well, really well…be excited for them, be genuine with them, and help them through your process with solid advice and instructions. 🙌

Do this with recruits, laterals, civilians, interns, skill bridge participants, job fair attendees or anyone else you come into contact with and watch your wins pile up.  Huge salary or not. 🚀   

2. Sell what you have…not what you don’t

To be effective in overcoming a big pay difference between your agency and another, you also have to remember you’re not selling numbers here…you’re selling the experience of working for your agency. 🤩

Yes, people want to have their needs met but more importantly the decision to choose your agency or another, at its core, comes down to one thing…does your applicant believe that your agency is the kind of place where people like them work. 🤔

Show your culture.  Pitch them purpose.  Show the growth potential they will have with you.  Offer them stability, leadership, work environment, or anything else that makes working at your agency awesome.  Showing them that, each and every single day is what truly attracts applicants even if your pay isn’t the greatest.  🧲

3. Speed and convenience are the great equalizers

All right…before I go any further, I want to make this crystal clear.  Being quick does not mean taking short cuts.  It doesn’t mean lowering standards or overlooking disqualifying indiscretions.  🙅‍♀️🙅

It means speeding things up and bringing clarity to your process because trust me, nothing will push an applicant away to another agency quicker than a slow and/or confusing one…and I don’t care how much money is behind it. 💸

So, if you want to counteract a higher salary…answer messages promptly.  Give updates to your applicants as to where they are in your process regularly.  Make sure the steps of your background process are laid out for them in plain and easy to understand language right from the start. 🗣️  

Make the steps along the way convenient for them to complete. Be flexible with dates and times and try to streamline and combine as many things as possible on their days off.  Don’t let weeks go by without them moving forward in some way in your process. 🪜

These small and completely free efforts truly can overcome any dollar deficit you may have, especially when you factor in that Generation Z isn’t really motivated by money.  They’re much more interested in relationships and fitting in.  Crazy, I know. 🤪 

OK, if these suggestions seem overly simple there’s a really good reason for that.  They are.  But don’t sleep on them…these are the things that will win you applicants because most agencies aren’t doing any of this and that’s what allows you to overcome their competitive advantage of more money. 💪

Now…need some more direction and insight as to what works to attract applicants and what you can do to start winning with police recruiting no matter what situation you’re in? 🙋‍♂️🙋‍♀️

My Road to Better Recruiting online training course has got you covered and is loaded with all of the mindset shifts, behavioral understandings, and proven recruiting tactics that I’ve used at my own agency for the past 13 years to keep ahead of the curve and on top of vacancies before anyone else saw them coming! 🔮

Check it out right now by visiting forcopstraining.com/rtbr and start recruiting like it’s 2026!

Have a friend in recruiting who thinks their low pay is what is holding their agency back from the quality applicants they seek?  Share this newsletter with them so they can learn too.  Our profession is much stronger when we’re all working together. 🤝

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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