Video: Promising Practices in Police Recruitment, Selection, Training, and Retention

• NCJ Number: 254608
• Date Published: March 2020
• Author(s): Antoinette Tull
• Length: 3 pages
• Agencies: NIJ
• Publication Type: Issue Overview; Best Practice/State-of-the-Art Review

Annotation

In this 3:56-minute video, Antoinette Tull, the Human Resources Division Chief of the Richmond Police Department (Virginia), discusses how law enforcement recruitment and retention strategies have changed in recent years, new retention strategies that attract millennial recruits, what retention strategies are cost-effective, and how the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) can assist in researching or evaluating strategies for recruitment and retention.

Abstract

She notes that law enforcement recruitment strategies that target millennials must address their perspectives on loyalty, job stability, and income. Recruitment strategies must also use the various media used by millennials, such as social media and online programming. Recruitment must also focus on the times and places where youth make decisions that affect their career choices, i.e. high schools and colleges. Police officers must also focus on expanding and improving their interactions with youth, so that models of policing impress and attract them. In addition, career trajectories in policing should also be emphasized, both to attract recruits and retain sworn officers. Research-based evaluations of police recruitment and retention strategies must be regularly performed, so their effectiveness can be measured and improvements made.