• Home
  • About
    • Authors
  • Articles
    • Archives
    • Chaplain
    • Crime & Controversy
    • Community
    • Cop Humor
    • Editorial
    • Op-ed
    • Gear & Technology
    • Investigations
    • Laws & Legal
    • Leadership
    • News
    • Officer Down
    • On Duty
    • Tactics
  • Network
    • Illinois Network
    • Minneapolis Network
    • Tulsa Network
    • Wauwatosa Network
    • Learn more
  • Training
  • Officer Privacy
  • Jobs
  • Contact
No Result
View All Result
Law Officer
Law Officer
No Result
View All Result

Why Bonuses Won’t Help Police Recruiting

Leaders Must Wake Up Or The Profession Will Be Bankrupt

December 8, 2022
Travis YatesbyTravis Yates
Share and speak up for justice, law & order...

Law enforcement is facing a critical moment in history and if leaders don’t make the correct decisions now, the safety of communities and the ability of the profession to fulfill the mission of crime reduction will be lost for generations to come.

I have spoken in detail about law enforcement recruiting over the last few years and you can see a training series I did here but I’m not seeing much change and that concerns me greatly.

While I applaud some of the efforts being done by agencies, it seems we are simply throwing ideas (and money) at the wall and hoping that something works. From billboard campaigns to fancy websites to marketing campaigns, the needle isn’t budging and law enforcement agencies are not increasing their recruit numbers.

The latest idea are signing bonuses and I’ve seen payouts as high as $20,000 but will this actually work to fix recruiting issues?

If the goal is to get more qualified candidates for the long term, bonuses will not only NOT WORK but they may hurt the agency in the long run.

A Short-Term Solution

If it takes a bonus to get someone to come to your agency, then what happens when another agency offers more a year later? The truth is, actual recruiting is about finding candidates that want to come to your agency for many reasons and while pay, benefits, and even bonuses, play a part, those will never be the reason they hire and stay…..which must be the goal of any recruiting campaign.

It’s About Culture….Not Money

The truth is that while the recruiting problem in law enforcement is real, we really have a leadership problem. Research conducted on employee satisfaction, retention and recruiting reveals that pay and benefits come in 5th place on what employees desire. Money is important but it’s not the reason people come and stay. If an agency truly wants to correct their staffing issue, they better embrace leadership. By far, the priority of candidates is the leadership and culture of the agency. Future law enforcement professionals want to work in an environment where they are valued, empowered, and most of all, protected when they do their job.

2020 and Beyond

Many leaders in our profession were exposed in the aftermath of 2020. One incident in Minneapolis created a storm across the country that brought reforms based on emotion, unwarranted critiques, and officers falsely accused at a rate that had never been seen before. None of this was new and law enforcement has always dealt with those that don’t exactly have the same mission of “law” “enforcement” that we have but it was how many leaders dealt with it that has caused the problem.

Leadership Can Fix Recruiting

If agencies want to correct recruiting, they better start with leadership.  Decisions must be made on facts and data, not on emotional feelings. When officers follow policy and training, they better be defended at all costs from the sharks that want to destroy us. When the media lies about officers and your agency, we must react strongly and never let the liars prevail. When politicians pass legislation that will place the lives of law enforcement and the community at risk, we better respond and react quickly. Officers must be trained at a high level and given every possible resource to do their job great.

And that is just an introduction at what must be done!

Stop Taking The Easy Path

Rather than actually solving the issue of recruiting, which begins and ends with great leadership, many agencies are simply checking the box that includes hiring bonuses, marketing campaigns and sponsored social media posts. We’ve been doing that for a few years now and nothing is changing.

We have a choice to make. Law enforcement can continue doing and trying the same old tactics or we can try a different approach. For the sake of the entire profession, I’m begging our leaders to actually start leading.


Note: I have written and trained extensively on this topic. Some of those resources are below:

Training Series On Law Enforcement Recruiting 

Bring Courageous Leadership To Your Agency

Bring A Recruiting Seminar To Your Conference

Law Enforcement Has Never Recruited

Myths of Police Recruiting 

A New Recruiting Strategy That Works

What We Can Learn From Military Recruiting


 

Travis Yates is a commander with a large municipal police department and 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 and Doctoral Candidate in Strategic Leadership.

 


Share and speak up for justice, law & order...
Tags: LeadershiprecruitingSAFEGUARD Recruitingtravis yates
Travis Yates

Travis Yates

Travis Yates has three decades of law enforcement experience and currently holds the rank of Major. One of the most prolific trainers and writers in the profession, he has trained and consulted with thousands of law enforcement professionals across the globe and has authored hundreds of articles for various publications. He is a past recipient of the ILEETA Police Trainer of the Year and the director of training with Law Officer (www.lawofficeracademy.com) and SAFETAC (www.safetac.org). Travis is a leading expert in leadership and risk management and is building a movement to bring Courageous Leadership back to law enforcement (www.stopcowards.com). Travis is a graduate of the 227th Session of the FBI National Academy and is a doctoral student in Strategic Leadership. He is the author of the best selling book, “The Courageous Police Leader: A Survival Guide for Combating Cowards, Chaos & Lies“

Related Posts

Leadership In The Aftermath of Memphis

January 29, 2023
Grady Judd

Sheriff vs. Chief

January 22, 2023

Police Leadership Has Betrayed and Abandoned

January 22, 2023
fallen officer

It’s Time To Apologize for the Apologies

January 21, 2023
Thin Blue Line flag

The Thin Blue Line

January 20, 2023

Police officer indicted after using pepper spray on non-compliant suspect

January 6, 2023
Load More

Latest Articles

Amy Coney Barrett

Left-wing extremists illegally protest outside Amy Coney Barrett’s home

January 30, 2023
Clarence CJ Williams

Georgia officer dies from medical emergency during foot chase

January 30, 2023
Lisa Marie Presley

Lisa Marie Presley on opioids, lost 50 pounds weeks prior to death

January 30, 2023
Preston Hemphill

Sixth Memphis police officer suspended in Tyre Nichols case

January 30, 2023
Christopher Hubbard

Ohio gunman sentenced to 56 years in prison for shootout with police

January 30, 2023
Stetson Bennett

Georgia Bulldogs star Stetson Bennett arrested in Dallas

January 30, 2023
Load More

Weekly E-Newsletter

Subscribe—and get the latest news and editorials direct from Law Officer each week!

[newsletter_form type="minimal"]

JOIN THE FIGHT

BE COURAGEOUS

FIND MORE…

Law Officer

© 2021 LawOfficer.com

LawOfficer.com

  • Home
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy Policy
  • Corrections
  • Contact

Speak up for justice, law & order

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About
    • Authors
  • Articles
    • Archives
    • Chaplain
    • Crime & Controversy
    • Community
    • Cop Humor
    • Editorial
    • Op-ed
    • Gear & Technology
    • Investigations
    • Laws & Legal
    • Leadership
    • News
    • Officer Down
    • On Duty
    • Tactics
  • Network
    • Illinois Network
    • Minneapolis Network
    • Tulsa Network
    • Wauwatosa Network
    • Learn more
  • Training
  • Officer Privacy
  • Jobs
  • Contact

© 2021 LawOfficer.com