I have dedicated more time to the issue of recruiting in the last several months than I would prefer but I continue to see efforts from the law enforcement profession that are misguided and a waste of resources. While I know that many are throwing their hands in the air and blaming a myriad of reasons why law enforcement recruiting is struggling, the truth is that many of our agencies aren’t actually recruiting.
Frankly, I don’t expect cops to understand the specialty of recruiting but we think we do because we had “so-called” success for many years.
But did we?
Actually, until recently we never had to recruit. We had more candidates than openings so our efforts centered on marketing. We made our agencies look as good as we could to attract the best of those candidates but when the candidates dry up, the marketing efforts are just that…marketing.
And marketing is not recruiting.
I’m not going to repeat the information I have already discussed on the failure of marketing to recruit law enforcement but you can review some of that information here and you can get my free training on recruiting here.
The Solution
The answer to the recruiting crisis is not what we think. We’ve been handing out bonuses, developing awesome websites, and tacit-cool videos for the last few years and most of those agencies have not improved their recruiting.
No one anywhere said they became a cop because they saw a website or a video. In fact, the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department has their lowest staffing in history but they just won the “best video” award from Police One.
They have a cool video though.
Why Is This Happening?
I don’t blame law enforcement leaders for not understanding this scam because marketing companies are very good when it comes to sales and appearances. I also don’t blame marketing companies for doing…marketing. A few of them recognized the recruiting crisis in our profession and launched marketing of their own using another company name (DBA) and website, telling our profession they were a law enforcement recruiting company.
The Scam Unmasked
To say that this has worked for those companies is an understatement and as long as law enforcement leaders keep thinking a website, video, and web clicks will help them, those companies will keep making a lot of money.
How much money?
I was recently in Nevada and discussed the recruiting issue in my leadership seminar and the supervisor over recruiting walked up to me after class.
She told me they spent $150,000 with a marketing company and their recruiting got worse. Although they did get a nice website and a video. This wasn’t the first story but it was the story that sent me on a journey to find out what was actually going on.
When agencies hire marketing firms to help them recruit, much of that process is public information. The proposals, contracts, etc. are typically available for review and often times on the website of the city or county where taxpayer money was used.
I won’t name the marketing companies getting rich from our decision to hire them because it’s not them that I’m trying to reach. I’m hoping we get wise to what is happening and make some different decisions. Some are doing that and others are simply updating websites and videos.
The Nevada agency understands but the money has been spent. Another agency told me they spent a million dollars on a recruiting effort that turned out to be marketing and their recruiting got worse.
While the personal stories are gut wrenching, what I have found in some public documents leaves me shaking my head and wondering if I should start build websites and videos for agencies.
I found a document last week where an agency paid $45,000 for a website and $50,000 for a video. They did promise to conduct SEO and send people to the website because after all, it was a nice website. But, recruiting at that agency did not improve. Another agency couldn’t understand why the initial website and video did not help them recruit so the marketing firm convinced them to give them another $250,000 the following year.
Is This 1995?
As someone who has built websites and produced videos, here is the business model and the truth.
It is not 1995 and websites do not cost $45,000. One contract said the company would “host” the website and secure it to justify the high cost. Once again, this is 2023 and that cost is minimal. Video production and editing is expensive but it’s not $50,000 expensive. The technology has opened up the possibility for just about anyone with average skills to develop videos at a cost that is much cheaper than one may think.
I’m certain that these marketing companies are conducting digital recruiting campaigns but here is how they charge six figures for few results. Let’s say an agency gives them $50,000 for a year of social media “marketing.” The marketing company pockets $45,000 and spends $5,000 to send you a few thousand more website views a month. That is just enough to make you think “it’s working” while you have a great website.
Keep in mind, that is not recruiting. Those website views could be coming from anyone and as we all know, we can’t just recruit anyone.
The Solution
The solution to this issue is three-fold. First, never hire anyone to recruit that won’t tell you how many recruits they will send you. They may tell you website views but that’s not recruits. You need to ask how many candidates will the company send them for the money spent.
Here’s a tip. Marketing companies won’t tell you…Recruiting companies will.
I’ve read several request for proposals where the agency only asks for a website, video and online marketing. Our leaders need to ask how many candidates they will get and what the cost will be for the campaign or per candidate.
If anyone avoids the answer, you know what you have. You have a marketing company.
Finally, make sure you are working with a company that has expertise in actual recruiting and not solely focused on marketing with the “promise” of recruiting. This is easily seen in their prior work and their case studies. If those case studies don’t mention the cost of a candidate, they aren’t worth taking seriously. Once again, the cost of a website click is not recruiting. We need to ask what the cost of a candidate or applicant is. If the company actually recruits, they will have done it enough to give you a very accurate estimate of what to expect for the money spent.
SAFEGUARD Recruiting
It’s no secret that I’m bullish on SAFEGUARD Recruiting. I don’t work for them and they are not a paid advertiser with Law Officer. They are simply THE answer to what our profession has been dealing with. They are former law enforcement that retired and dove into the expertise of recruiting for the sole reason to help the profession that they love.
The processes they have developed aren’t new to recruiting firms but they are the only ones that have brought it to law enforcement. Doug Larsen is a retired law enforcement officer and the co-owner. He didn’t shy away from telling me that a recent client got an applicant for every $25 spent. It’s sometimes higher and sometimes lower, depending on how many of the processes the agency implemented but they have numerous case studies where they have literally staffed agencies full in a short period of time.
While I’m excited that the profession has a resource like SAFEGUARD to help them navigate an issue that is relatively new, I am also extremely frustrated that our agencies are spending resources on failed efforts.
I’m a simple guy with average intelligence but if you ask me, I’ll pay $25 for an actual applicant over $100,000 for a fancy website and video every day off the week.
Doug and his team have done things in recruiting for our profession that no one thought was possible. They recently sent 1400 candidates to an agency in just a few weeks and while that effort would not apply to most reading this, it reveals just how dialed in they are to this issue.
I’m hopeful because SAFEGUARD Recruiting has solved the recruiting issue but I’m also frightful because so many agencies are on the verge of throwing in the towel because they have been mislead and misinformed to what it actually takes to recruit.
Dr. Travis Yates retired as a commander with a large municipal police department after 30 years of service. He is the author of “The Courageous Police Leader: A Survival Guide for Combating Cowards, Chaos & Lies.” His risk management and leadership seminars have been taught to thousands of professionals across the world. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy with a Doctorate Degree in Strategic Leadership and the CEO of the Courageous Police Leadership Alliance.