CRI-TAC SPOTLIGHT

Report Out from Rhode Island Regional Roundtable 

on Recruitment, Hiring, and Retention

The West Greenwich (Rhode Island) Police Department (WGPD) 

requested assistance through the Collaborative Reform Initiative 

Technical Assistance Center (CRI-TAC) to host an event for local 

law enforcement agencies from Rhode Island and the surrounding 

areas to discuss challenges in recruitment, hiring, and retention. 

On January 29, 2020, CRI-TAC hosted Recruitment, Hiring, and 

Retention: National and Local Trends, a roundtable discussion in 

Portsmouth, Rhode Island. More than 35 individuals participated, 

representing nearly every law enforcement agency in Rhode 

Island and one from New York. This document summarizes and 

annotates the discussions from that roundtable, supplemented by 

a list of additional resources. It is not intended to be prescriptive, 

but to represent the opinions and suggestions given by subject 

matter experts (SME) at the event.

About the CRI-TAC Spotlight

Developed through CRITAC, the CRI-TAC Spotlight 

series is committed to 

advancing knowledge 

through sharing tools, 

resources, and information 

for the law enforcement 

field as a result of 

customized training and 

technical assistance 

delivered by CRI-TAC.
Recruitment

All law enforcement agencies in Rhode Island 

have independent application processes, and 

applicants may find the process redundant. 

Roundtable participants brought up the following 

considerations and points of discussion related to 

recruitment: 

Streamline and standardize the application 

process to reduce redundancies for applicants.

zz Implement a statewide process or 

platform, such as PoliceApp, for 

applicants to compare agencies and 

submit applications. 

zz Create a standard application, including 

a one-time payment of application fees 

rather than the multiple payments and 

applications individuals submit currently. 

 Enhance processes to reduce poaching of 

applicants. 

zz Formal processes may include legislation 

and other public policies.

zz Agreements between agencies may 

be formalized through Memoranda of 

Understanding.

 Select the right recruiters. Everyone in the 

agency should be referring quality applicants, 

but carefully consider who should be 

attending recruiting events on behalf of the 

agency. 

 Employee referral programs can be effective 

and allow everyone to contribute to the 

organizational culture. 

zz Incentives for successful referrals might 

include monetary funds, paid time off, 

housing stipends, etc. 

zz Incentives could be provided in onetime lump sums once an applicant is 

hired, or divided out with an additional 

incentive when the applicant passes the 

one-year mark. 

 Market and brand the profession and 

individual agencies. 

zz Shift the narrative to show the realities 

of the profession and provide clear 

expectations to potential applicants. 

zz Highlight what makes individual 

agencies and communities special.

zz Develop a brand that showcases the 

benefits of working for your agency.

zz Spotlight personal and professional 

growth opportunities, in addition to 

other compensation benefits.

zz Incorporate innovative marketing 

approaches including social media 

platforms, videos, mailers and postcards, 

and speaking or recruiting at local schools.
Hiring

The hiring period and process for applicants 

in Rhode Island is often redundant and may 

pit agencies against one another when testing 

or interview dates are scheduled concurrently. 

Applicants may find it challenging to be 

required to participate in physical fitness tests, 

interviews, or other hiring tasks multiple times 

for multiple agencies. Roundtable participants 

brought up the following considerations and 

points of discussion related to the hiring process:

 Host orientations or open houses for applicants 

and other community members to ask questions, understand the hiring process, and see 

demonstrations of physical fitness standards. 

 Evaluate the ability to have a statewide physical fitness test proctor.

zz Some states, such as Connecticut, have 

found success in using services which 

proctor standard physical fitness tests 

and provide passing applicants with 

a certificate valid for a set period 

of time. Agencies can accept this 

certificate in lieu of conducting an 

agency-specific fitness test. 

 Modify physical fitness test activities to 

model job-specific tasks; further consider the 

role of a post-hire fitness test. 

 Acknowledge and respond to applicants 

promptly and routinely throughout the 

hiring process. 

zz Whether via text, email, or letter, 

acknowledging receipt of application 

and outlining next steps will provide 

touchpoints with applicants to keep 

them engaged in the process. 

zz Tentative offers of employment may 

lead applicants to become further 

invested in the agency hiring process. 

 Include diverse individuals, internal and 

external to the law enforcement agency, in 

the oral board interview. 

 Hire retired law enforcement for background 

checks, which can free up agency personnel 

time. 

 Provide guidance and insight to applicants 

not accepted or hired. 

zz Encourage applicants to reapply 

and provide tangible feedback for 

improvement. 

zz Conduct personalized outreach when 

providing feedback, which may increase 

the candidate’s desire to reapply.

 Evaluate and establish educational and other 

qualifying standards to ensure they align 

with state requirements and community 

expectations. 
Retention

Discussion of retention of quality personnel 

within law enforcement agencies centered around 

why individuals most often leave an agency or 

the profession and how agencies across Rhode 

Island and New York can retain personnel. 

Roundtable participants brought up the following 

considerations and points of discussion related 

to retention: 

 Understand why individuals typically stay 

in or leave jobs. Use this data to develop a 

culture to retain personnel. 

 Paul Zak, in The Neurobiology of Trust and 

the Neuroscience of Trust, outlines factors of 

human interaction and the intersection with 

trusting organizational structures. The key 

concepts Zak proposes for why people remain 

in positions can apply to law enforcement 

agencies. 

zz Apply key concepts of procedural justice 

internally to strengthen morale and 

foster a culture of ownership and loyalty.

 Hire the right people. Initial hiring decisions 

are critical to retaining quality staff. Develop 

a brand and hire to fit that brand. 

zz Many agencies choose to keep a vacancy 

open rather than hire someone who may 

not fit into the organizational culture. 

 Dig deeper into potential underlying or 

systemic reasons people leave. Compensation 

is often cited as a rationale to leave, but 

there may be more to the decision that is 

within the control of agency leadership.

zz Competitive pay matters, to a degree, 

but organizational culture matters more. 

zz Reevaluate compensation packages as 

appropriate. It is more expensive to hire 

new personnel than to provide additional 

compensation to current personnel. 

zz Calculate all the factors involved in 

hiring for an accurate picture of the 

cost. Consider overtime costs, fees 

for testing, and the cost and time of 

background checks, training, etc. 

 Reevaluate traditional standards to determine 

their relevance to today’s work environment. 

Organizational culture can impact an 

individual’s interest in staying with an 

agency. 

zz Beards, tattoos, and general appearance 

standards may be loosened without 

diminishing professional service delivery. 

This may boost morale or contribute to 

personnel’s sense of self-expression. 

zz Training opportunities both benefit 

the individual and pay dividends to 

the agency. Consider how training and 

assignments should be approached to 

provide personnel growth opportunities. 
Conclusion

Recruitment, hiring, and retention are universal 

law enforcement challenges. Individual agencies 

should evaluate their recruitment and hiring 

processes consistently and allow them to evolve 

to suit their circumstances. The attendees of the 

Recruitment, Hiring, and Retention: National and 

Local Trends roundtable provided lessons learned, 

challenges, and suggestions to help agencies 

meet this goal. 

Additional Resources

The State of Recruitment: a Crisis for Law Enforcement. International Association of Chiefs of Police 

(IACP), February 2020. This resource discusses the status of recruitment and its impact on the law 

enforcement profession. 

Recruitment and Retention for 2019 and Beyond. Ray Arcuri for IACP’s Police Chief Magazine, 2019. This 

article outlines key considerations for recruitment strategies, ideal applicants, and marketing vacancies. 

Hiring for the 21st Century Law Enforcement Officer: Challenges, Opportunities, and Strategies for 

Success. U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) 

and the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), 2017. This publication discusses key considerations 

for hiring candidates with shared values, making the hiring process more efficient, and advancing 

diversity in the hiring process. 

The Workforce Crisis, and What Police Agencies are Doing About It. Police Executive Research Forum 

(PERF), September 2019. This report covers the findings of a PERF Survey on recruiting and retaining 

the next generation of officers. 

More than Public Service: A Field Experiment on Job Advertisements and Diversity in Police. Elizabeth 

Linos for Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, November 2017. This article analyzes 

job advertisements to determine which messaging has the greatest impact on applicant numbers and 

candidate diversity. 

How Do Cops Choose Their Specific Departments? Dolan Consulting Group (DCG), February 2020. This 

article discusses the findings of the DCG Police Recruiting and Hiring Survey, which focused on 

reasons individuals selected their law enforcement agency. 

Law Enforcement Best Practices: Lessons Learned from the Field. COPS Office, October 2019. This 

wide-ranging report covers numerous areas of the law enforcement profession, including recruitment, 

hiring, promotion, and retention. 
Acknowledgements

The WGPD and attending agencies proactively 

sought assistance for challenges and trends 

in recruitment, hiring, and retention. The 

participants involved in this roundtable were 

engaged and thoughtful; as participants in 

Collaborative Reform, they contributed to the 

body of knowledge summarized in this report. 

CRI-TAC SMEs Kym Craven, Edward Denmark, 

David Kurz, and Fernando Spagnolo provided 

insights and considerations to the WGPD and 

participants based on their wealth of knowledge, 

experience, and expertise. Leadership and staff 

at the COPS Office and the CRI-TAC coordinated 

this effort, ensured the technical assistance was 

responsive to the WGPD’s needs, and provided 

oversight, management, and administration of 

the program.

www.COPS.USDOJ.gov | www.CollaborativeReform.org

This project was supported, in whole or in part, by cooperative agreement number 2017-CR-WX-K001 

awarded by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. The 

opinions contained herein are those of the author(s) or contributor(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. References to specific individuals, agencies, companies, products, or services should not be considered an endorsement by the 

author(s) or the U.S. Department of Justice. Rather, the references are illustrations to supplement 

discussion of the issues.

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Community Oriented 

Policing Services

145 N Street NE

Washington, DC 20530

To obtain details about COPS Office programs, call 

the COPS Office Response Center at 800-421-6770.

Visit the COPS Office online at www.cops.usdoj.gov.

Published 2020

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