Top Police Recruiting Trends for 2026!

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Looking for the next big thing in police recruiting here in the new year? 🔭

Well, here’s the thing about it….2026 isn’t going to be about fancy websites or recruiting videos.  It’s not going to be about out-of-state recruiting trips, or some magical outside company solution.  😲

Nope, 2026 is going to be about you…doing three simple things…consistently.  Wanna know what they are? Keep reading! 👀

Hey everyone, it’s Tom Sye your Police Marketing FTO, and this week, let’s talk about the new year and more importantly what you’re going to do to win with police recruiting in it.  As I said in the open, if you’re going to be successful in recruiting like it’s 2026…you’re going to have to stop throwing spaghetti at your recruiting wall hoping that something sticks. 🍝

Listen, and this is a really good thing…a lot of agencies are finally waking up to the fact that most of these outside company recruiting solutions are simply just after your money and don’t do much to move the needle in terms of what you really need…high quality police officer applicants who want to work for you and only you. 💯

So, before you fall further behind in the new year, let me help you pull that off by giving you my top 3 police recruiting trends you can utilize in 2026 for police recruiting success…

1. Have a big social media presence

Let me just hit you with a truth punch right to the face here…a social media account dedicated to your police recruiting isn’t optional anymore.  Your potential applicants live online. And if you’re still treating social media like it’s Facebook and nothing else…you’re never going to reach them. 🤷‍♂️ 

You need to meet your applicants where they’re at and when you factor in that the average Generation Z social media user visits, on average, six social media platforms a day, that means you should be on at least that many too! 🤯

The good news is, it actually doesn’t take much more effort to be on six than it does to be on one.  Create daily content focusing on real people, real culture, and the real reasons why they should choose you.  Then post that content on all of your platforms.  Done and done. ✅

2. Streamline your testing process

Before you even question it…no.  This does not mean take short cuts or lower standards.  What this means is making things easier for your applicants and doing what you can to help get them through your testing process. 💨

Here’s the bottom line…if you are only testing once every three to six months, if you have multiple day testing where applicants have to take several days off of work to complete everything, or even if you just simply do things during business hours and that’s it…you are going to lose.  End of story. 📘

Applicants today and this will be even more prominent in 2026, expect the flexibility onus to be on you, the agency…not the other way around.  You can look at that as a good thing or a bad thing it really doesn’t matter…but you better realize it and adjust to it if you’re going to be successful in getting people to show up. 💡

My advice: offer all in one day testing where an applicant can take their written test, PT test, oral board and whatever other thing you have for the initial testing process all in the same day.  Have weekend and weeknight dates available until you figure out where the bulk of your applicants are at in terms of work schedules and adjust accordingly.  This will lead to more people, guaranteed without you having to spend anything extra to attract them. 🧲

3. Build your police recruiting skills

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times and I’m going to say it again…no one can market your agency better than you!   The simple fact is…no one understands your agency better than you.  No one understands your culture better than you.  And no one knows all of the reasons your agency is the awesome place it is to work…better than you! 🫵

Stop outsourcing your voice to an outside company who is giving you the same product, systems, methods, and whatever else they’re selling you that they give to every other agency they deal with and take back your police recruiting. 💪 

Learn some police marketing.  Learn the behavioral trends of newer generations.  Keep up with what’s popular.  Have weekly meetings as a recruiting group to talk about things.  Share information with each other.  Treat your position as the specialty it is and learn all that you can. 🧠   

Need more help putting all of the suggestions from this newsletter into use? 🙋‍♂️🙋‍♀️

👉 Check out all of the free learning resources available right now on my website by visiting forcopstraining.com. 

Everything I have is designed for you to both easily understand and implement so you can get headed in the right direction!  If you want to accelerate the learning process…check out the courses tab and get yourself enrolled in one. 🚀

Whatever you decide to do...do it quick…2026 is here! 😳

Have a friend in recruiting who is stuck trying to get applicants through the door?  Share this newsletter with them so they can learn too!  Remember, it’s going to 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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