Drive down any business district and just about every business has a help wanted sign in the window. Many offer bonuses. However, these businesses do not face the unique challenges that law enforcement does. Movements to defund the police, law enforcement officers made out to be the bad guys, and increased workloads due to staffing shortages plague the normal recruiting process. Not to mention pay and benefits packages. Even with these perceptions and obstacles, there are many highly qualified men and women who attend the police academy and graduate to become law enforcement professionals. That’s great! Now how do we keep them?

A good retention program starts in the field training program and continues throughout the officer’s career with professional development courses, mentorship, a reward system, and opportunity within the agency. Most agencies have little influence on pay and benefits. So it’s even more important that officers enjoy the agency and feel as if they are a part of the community. It is commonplace for younger officers to leave an agency, or the profession, if they do not feel valued. It is estimated that 24 percent of officers who leave one agency go to work for another law enforcement agency. Approximately 78 percent of employees stay with an employer because of a benefits program that includes retention programs.