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Police recruitment: finding a better way to hire tomorrow's finest
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Content
Police Recruitment: Finding a Better Way to Hire Tomorrow's Finest
by
Liam Doyle
Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
A dissertation submitted to the faculty
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Education
May, 2021
© Copyright by Liam Doyle 2021
All Rights Reserved
The Committee for Liam Doyle certifies the approval of this Dissertation
Jennifer Phillips
Wayne Combs
Helena Seli, Committee Chair
Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
2021
iv
Abstract
This dissertation examined law enforcement recruiters’ knowledge and motivation and their
organizational barriers to recruiting Millennials for Law Enforcement Officer positions. The
study used a qualitative approach by conducting surveys and semi-structured interviews with law
enforcement recruiters throughout California. The study revolved around two research questions:
what are the law enforcement recruiters’ knowledge and motivation related to effectively
recruiting and hiring Millennials for the position of Law Enforcement Officer, and in what way
does the law enforcement agency support or hinder the law enforcement recruiters’ capacity to
effectively recruit Millennials? The survey results offered rich data that was further explored
during participant interviews. Each interview covered topics related to the law enforcement
recruiters’ knowledge and motivation specific to recruiting Millennials. The research revealed
that although recruiters and law enforcement agencies believe recruiting Millennials is important,
they perceive specifically recruiting Millennials as limiting the recruiters’ abilities to fill all
available Law Enforcement Officer positions within their agency. As this study took place during
the COVID-19 pandemic, the study explored how the restrictions on in-person contact in
California affected the strategy many law enforcement recruiters used to recruit. The study
revealed many recruiters and organizations did not have strategies that allowed them to
communicate effectively with potential candidates and relied heavily on in-person recruiting
events. The research findings and results indicated law enforcement recruiters could benefit from
obtaining recruiter-specific skills training, increasing their understanding and value of
Millennials, and employing a robust online presence to recruit and communicate with potential
candidates.
v
Dedication
To my wife, Shannan, I could not have achieved this milestone without your love and support;
thank you. Your encouragement, selflessness, and patience through this process have been
tremendous, and I am forever grateful.
To my children, Josh, Connor, and Aubree, thank you for understanding when I wrote a
leadership paper while on the beach in Jamaica, did homework all weekend, and when stress
caused me to have a less than cheery attitude.
To my parents and in-laws, thank you for the support and encouragement you have given during
this process.
To the Village, thank you. I could not have asked for a better group of people to join me in the
academic adventure. Your healthy dose of sarcasm always kept me grounded and focused.
vi
Acknowledgments
Completion of this doctoral endeavor would not have been possible without the support
of my committee chair Dr. Helena Seli, who always took the time to respond to my frantic
emails and questions. To my committee members, Dr. Jennifer Phillips and Dr. Wayne Combs, I
would have been lost without your insight and guidance through this process. Each of you has
made such a positive impact in my life during this endeavor. To my committee as a whole, thank
you for all the help and support. Thank you for being awesome!
vii
Table of Contents
Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv
Dedication ....................................................................................................................................... v
Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ vi
List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. x
List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... xii
List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................................... xiii
Chapter One: Overview of the Study .............................................................................................. 1
Background of the Problem ................................................................................................ 1
Importance of the Study ...................................................................................................... 4
Field Context and Mission .................................................................................................. 5
Field Goal............................................................................................................................ 6
Description of Stakeholder Group ...................................................................................... 7
Stakeholder Group for the Study and Stakeholder Goal ..................................................... 7
Purpose of the Study and Research Questions .................................................................... 8
Overview of the Conceptual and Methodological Framework ........................................... 8
Definitions of Terms ........................................................................................................... 9
Organization of Dissertation ............................................................................................... 9
Chapter Two: Review of the Literature ........................................................................................ 11
The Cost of Vacant Law Enforcement Officer Positions ................................................. 11
Millennial’s Work-Related Goals ..................................................................................... 12
Recruiting Obstacles ......................................................................................................... 14
Clark and Estes’ Knowledge, Motivation, and Organizational Framework ..................... 25
viii
Law Enforcement Recruiters Knowledge, Motivation, and Organizational Influences ... 26
Conceptual Framework: The Connection Between Knowledge, Motivation, and
Organizational Influences ..................................................................................... 36
Summary ........................................................................................................................... 39
Chapter Three: Methodology ........................................................................................................ 40
Research Questions ........................................................................................................... 40
Overview of Methodology ................................................................................................ 40
Data Sources ..................................................................................................................... 41
Ethics and Role Of Researcher ......................................................................................... 47
Chapter Four: Results or Findings ................................................................................................ 49
Participating Stakeholders ................................................................................................ 49
What Are Law Enforcement Recruiters’ Knowledge and Motivation Related to
Effectively Recruiting and Hiring Millennials for the Position of Law
Enforcement Officer ............................................................................................. 53
In What Way Does the Law Enforcement Agency Support or Hinder Recruiters’
Capacity to Effectively Recruit Millennials ......................................................... 67
Summary ........................................................................................................................... 76
Chapter Five: Discussion .............................................................................................................. 78
Discussion of Findings and Results .................................................................................. 78
Recommendations for Practice ......................................................................................... 81
Limitations and Delimitations ........................................................................................... 88
Recommendations for Future Research ............................................................................ 89
Conclusions ....................................................................................................................... 90
ix
References ..................................................................................................................................... 91
Appendix A: Survey Items.......................................................................................................... 109
Appendix B: Interview Items ...................................................................................................... 112
Appendix C: Information Sheet for Exempt Research ............................................................... 115
x
List of Tables
Table 1: Knowledge influences 29
Table 2: Motivation influence 32
Table 3: Organization influences 35
Table 4: Data sources 41
Table 5: Survey participants 51
Table 6: Interview participants 52
Table 7: Survey question 1: Does your agency have a law
Enforcement recruitment program 53
Table 8: Responses for survey question 12: My recruitment unit is
active in trying to recruit police officers 54
Table 9: Survey question 11: Do you specifically target, in an effort to
hire, millennials? why or why not 55
Table 10: Responses for survey question 17: I have input in setting
recruitment goals 59
Table 11: Responses for survey question 19: I am confident in my
ability to fill all available law enforcement officer positions,
with millennials, in my agency 62
Table 12: Responses for survey question 16: I perceive value in specific
recruitment efforts targeted towards millennials 63
Table 13: Survey question 11: Reasons why recruiters do or do not
specifically target millennials, in an effort to hire 65
Table 14: Responses for survey question 15: It is important for my
agency to recruit millennials 66
Table 15: Responses for survey question 13: My organization has
clearly communicated to me the importance of specifically
recruiting millennials for the position of law enforcement
officer 68
Table 16: Responses for survey question 14: My organization has
clearly identified the ideal candidate in order to assist me in
xi
targeting my recruiting efforts 70
Table 17: Responses for survey question 15: List the top three ideal traits
your agency looks for in a law enforcement officer candidate 71
Table 18: Survey question 8: Have you attended training on how to be a
law enforcement recruiter 73
Table 19: Survey question 16: Is law enforcement recruiting a
specifically, budgeted item within your agency 75
xii
List of Figures
Figure 1: Model of the Employee Recruitment Process 21
Figure 2: Model of the Organizational Influences 38
xiii
List of Abbreviations
POST Peace Officer Standard and Training
1
Chapter One: Overview of the Study
Nationwide, the number of full-time Law Enforcement Officers has decreased from
2.42% in 1997 to 2.17% per 1,000 residents in 2016 (Hyland, 2018). The per 1,000 residents is a
fixed number benchmark, which means it reflects the number of residents in a community rather
than the number of people visiting or working in the community. This is an important distinction
for many cities with a lower nighttime resident population than during business hours or
weekends when the community's population can expand exponentially. The Public Policy
Institute of California research (Martin & Lofstrom, 2018) found that between 2008 and 2011,
the number of California Law Enforcement Officers decreased by almost 4,000, or five percent
of the total number of Law Enforcement Officers in the State of California (Municipal, County,
and State).
Even though California law enforcement added 1,000 Law Enforcement Officers to their
rosters from 2011 to 2017, the total number of Law Enforcement Officers employed in
California was still eight percent below the 2008 staffing levels (Martin & Lofstrom, 2018). This
decrease in Law Enforcement Officers occurred when California saw an increase in violent
crimes (homicide, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault). In 2011, California had a
violent crime rate of 413.3 per 100,000 population (California Department of Justice, 2012);
however, six years later, in 2017, the violent crime rate had risen to 451 per 100,000 (California
Department of Justice, 2018).
Background of the Problem
According to Langham's (2017) research, more than 80 percent of United States law
enforcement agencies nationwide had vacant Law Enforcement Officer positions they could not
fill due to a lack of applicants. In the 2018 New York Post article titled, New York State facing
2
'severe' shortage of new trooper recruits, Tom Mungeer, President of the New York State
Troopers Police Benevolent, explained: "We're right at the precipice, staring into the abyss of a
severe manpower shortage" (Pagones, 2018). According to Pagones's (2018) data, the New York
State Police employed approximately 5,000 Troopers between 2017 and 2018. During that same
period, they suffered a 10.02% workforce reduction due to Trooper retirements. The New York
State Police did attempt to fill the gap; however, they could only meet 7.3% of that need. Based
on retirement numbers alone, the New York State Police started 2019 with a deficit of 136
Troopers. In other words, there were 136 fewer uniformed Troopers patrolling the highways for
drunk drivers, or 136 fewer Troopers available to respond to calls for service from the public.
This was at a time when prospective Millennial candidates were reaching the age to start a career
in law enforcement (Dimock, 2019). Fry's (2020) research determined that the largest generation
in the United States labor market is the Millennial generation. The evidence suggests the
problem of departments’ inability to be successful in recruiting and hiring tomorrow's officers is
not getting better and could be heading towards a crisis point (Langham, 2017).
Law enforcement staffing storages are not unique to state or local agencies. Federal law
enforcement agencies are understaffed and trying to locate candidates in the same recruiting pool
as state and local law enforcement. Viswanatha and Tau's (2019) study revealed that the Federal
Bureau of Investigation saw a decrease in the number of candidates for Special Agent, from its
height in 2009 of 68,500 applicants to 11,500 in 2018. In nine years, applications for the Federal
Bureau of Investigation Special Agent's position decreased by 142% (Viswanatha & Tau, 2019).
Viswanatha and Tau's (2019) research also identified that the Federal Bureau of
Investigation needs to receive 16,000 candidates to fill the 900 recurring open Special Agents
positions each year. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (2017), they had 13,906
3
Special Agents in 2017. The same year James Comey, the Director of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, said during a recruiting event that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had a one
percent attrition rate (Comey, 2017). Even with a low attrition rate, they, too, are finding it more
difficult to find and hire Special Agents (Viswanatha & Tau, 2019).
Law enforcement recruitment challenges are not solely regarding the shortage of
applicants. The law enforcement profession has a history of resisting attempts to change its
practices (Cohen, 2017). Wilson's et al. (2014) research demonstrated some recruitment
challenges resulted from rapidly changing employment trends. Established bureaucracies, such
as law enforcement agencies, are often unable to make swift changes in practices to keep up with
the changing recruitment changes, such as adapting to generational recruiting strategies (Wilson
et al., 2014). Wilson et al. (2014) also identified that many law enforcement recruiters need
training to efficiently seek out and successfully recruit new Law Enforcement Officer candidates.
The need for law enforcement recruitment training is a necessity that is going unmet in
many law enforcement agencies. A review of the State of California Commission on Peace
Officer Standards and Training (POST) training catalog demonstrates a lack of available training
courses listed under recruitment. Instead, recruitment training shows simply as a keyword
associated with the twelve background investigation courses offered in the year 2020 (POST,
2020). However, a review of the background investigation course description demonstrates that
law enforcement recruitment is not a listed topic covered in the course. Without precise,
formalized training regarding recruiting, law enforcement recruiters lack the training needed to
recruit Millennials effectively.
4
Importance of the Study
It is important to solve the shortage of Law Enforcement Officers for various reasons. To
protect society from chaos, communities have an inherent need for Law Enforcement Officers
(Oliver, 2017). Although positions for sworn Law Enforcement Officers go unfilled in a city,
calls for service and other law enforcement-related activities continue to occur without regard for
staffing level decreases (McCabe, 2013). The affected law enforcement agency may choose to
ignore the problem and field fewer officers in their jurisdiction or lower the number of officers
required to accomplish essential law enforcement services, which is known as reducing
minimum staffing levels (McCabe, 2013).
To bridge the gap caused by unfilled positions, employers offer overtime compensation
to current employees with the hope that someone will feel compelled or motivated to work extra
hours to cover the vacant position on a shift-by-shift basis. Although this solution fixes the short-
term problem, it is a tactic that lends itself to a host of new issues, including creating dangerous
working conditions such as fatigue and reduced productivity. Senjo's (2011) research suggests,
employees working increased hours per week see an overall decrease in work performance.
Although there is a superficial appearance of a consistent number of Law Enforcement Officers
on the street, the reality is those officers' have a reduced capacity to perform their job safely and
efficiently.
A common side effect of not solving the problem or recruiting and hiring is employee
exhaustion. There are only 24 hours in a day, and fewer than that number can be utilized to
safely work, and extending those hours decreases their work output while simultaneously
increasing unsafe working conditions (Belenky et al., 2014). Fatigue and sleep deprivation are
persistent law enforcement concerns (Vila, 2009). As Belenky et al. (2014) explained, fatigue
5
degrades performance and can lead to errors in operational settings. According to Vila's (2009)
research, being awake for "19 hours produced impairments comparable to having a blood alcohol
concentration of .05 percent" (p. 262). Increasing the timeline to 24 hours is equivalent to have a
.10 percent blood alcohol concentration (Vila, 2009).
A reduced workforce causes more problems than simply the notable, visible decrease in
the numbers of employees when printed on paper. Research shows that forcing officers to
continuously work more hours with fewer hours of sleep results in less productivity, increases
the risk of injury, and invites errors in judgments, some of which could have irreversible
consequences (Belenky et al., 2014, Senjo, 2011; Vila, 2009). As Mello (2018) explained in their
research into law enforcement hiring grants given to municipal law enforcement agencies, the
deployment of more police officers on the streets by way of hiring more officers by as little as
3.2% decreases the victimization cost to citizens by 3.5%. This statistic shows that there is
indeed a positive opportunity cost to hiring more officers, and tax-paying citizens who want safer
cities and streets would most likely agree.
Field Context and Mission
The field of study is the Sworn Law Enforcement Officer population in California.
According to Martin and Lofstrom (2018), the number of sworn Law Enforcement Officers in
California in 2017 was roughly 78,000. Of those 78,000 Law Enforcement Officers, they are
divided among approximately 509 law enforcement agencies covering the 58 counties that
compose the State of California (United States Department of Justice, 2011). According to the
State of California Commission on Peace Officer Standard and Training (State of California,
2018), California Law Enforcement Officer's mission is this:
6
To serve mankind; to safeguard lives and property; to protect the innocent against
deception, the weak against oppression or intimidation, and the peaceful against violence
or disorder; and to respect the Constitutional rights of all men to liberty, equality, and
justice. (p. 1)
Although the Commission on Peace Officer Standard and Training has developed an
overall mission for California law enforcement, each of the approximately 509 law enforcement
agencies have their own mission statements focused on serving their individual communities and
many with their own locally-derived missions. For example, two of the largest law enforcement
agencies in California, which include the Los Angeles Police Department and the California
Highway Patrol, differ in mission statements. For example, the Los Angeles Police Department
mission statement (2020) is designed around developing partnerships with the community while
improving public safety. In comparison, the California Highway Patrol mission statement
focused on providing a superior level of service, safety, and security (Farrow, 2015).
Field Goal
Since 1997, the number of Law Enforcement Officers has decreased while crime has
increased (Hyland, 2018; State of California, 2018). The law enforcement field struggles to fill
the vacant positions throughout California (State of California, 2018). The goal of law
enforcement recruiters is to fill all available Law Enforcement Officer positions. Evaluating the
field's performance will provide all stakeholders with objective data to examine law
enforcement, further the success of recruiting efforts, and positively influence the law
enforcement profession in the future.
7
Description of Stakeholder Groups
In the context of the field goal of properly staffing all available Law Enforcement Officer
positions, several stakeholders play an integral role in the success of this mission. These include
law enforcement managers, law enforcement recruitment program supervisors, and law
enforcement recruiters. Law enforcement managers are defined as executive leadership within a
law enforcement agency. Law enforcement managers contribute to the achievement of filling all
available Law Enforcement Officer positions by providing budget funds for recruitment
activities. Law enforcement recruitment program supervisors are defined as middle managers
within a law enforcement agency that oversees the law enforcement recruitment program. Law
enforcement recruitment program supervisors contribute to the achievement of filling all
available Law Enforcement Officer positions by providing accountability and clear expectations
of recruitment goals. Law enforcement recruiters are defined as personnel assigned to actual
recruitment duties either full-time or on a collateral duty basis. Law enforcement recruiters
contribute to the achievement of filling all available Law Enforcement Officer positions by
actively recruiting the most significant available section of available laborers: Millennials.
Stakeholder Group for the Study and Stakeholder Goal
Although all stakeholders' efforts contribute to overseeing that all available Law
Enforcement Officer positions are filled, law enforcement recruiters were selected to be the focus
of this study for practical purposes. The law enforcement recruiters' goal is to recruit and hire
Millennials for all available Law Enforcement Officer positions. Failure to meet this goal would
result in the continued understaffing of law enforcement and, as a result, reduce the number of
Law Enforcement Officers available for public safety. Law enforcement recruiters are often the
face of law enforcement agencies related to employment vacancies. Law enforcement recruiters
8
are tasked with meeting their agency’s workforce needs and recruiting goals of filling vacant
Law Enforcement Officer positions. Recruiting Millennials, who currently compose the largest
available employee pool, is an appropriate focus for law enforcement recruiters to meet their
agency’s needs.
Purpose of the Study and Research Questions
The purpose of this study was to identify promising practices as it relates to effectively
recruiting and hiring Millennials to serve as Law Enforcement Officers. While a complete
performance evaluation would focus on all stakeholders, this author’s stakeholder focus was law
enforcement recruiters for practical application purposes. The study focused on knowledge and
skill, motivation, and organizational issues related to the law enforcement recruiters' capacity to
target, recruit, and hire candidates to fill the employment vacancies.
The following questions guided the research in identifying promising practices and
determining how they can be best implemented within law enforcement recruitment programs:
1) What are the law enforcement recruiters' knowledge and motivation related to
effectively recruiting and hiring Millennials for the position of Law Enforcement Officer?
2) In what way does the law enforcement agency support or hinder the law enforcement
recruiters' capacity to effectively recruit Millennials?
Overview of the Conceptual and Methodological Framework
The theoretical framework applied to addressing this problem is the gap analysis of Clark
and Estes' (2008). The researcher used Clark and Estes' analytical tool to understand
organizational performance goals and identify the knowledge, motivation, and organizational
influences that impact stakeholder performance. The model was be adapted to an exploratory
model and applied as the conceptual framework. Presumed knowledge, motivation, and
9
organizational influences that affect law enforcement recruiters' ability to recruit and hire
Millennials will be generated based on context-specific and general learning and motivation
theory. These influences were further examined using a qualitative methodological framework.
The researcher gathered qualitative data using in-person interviews and open-ended survey
questions. As Creswell (1994) study explained, using a qualitative research approach allows the
researcher to understand a phenomenon succinctly.
Definitions of Terms
• Millennials, for this study, the term Millennials will conform to Dimock's (2019)
definition. As Dimock's (2019) research indicates, Millennials are a generation of people
born between 1981 and 1996.
• Law Enforcement Officer refers to a person who is authorized to carry a badge, a firearm,
has full arrest powers, and paid for by government funds expressly set aside for sworn
law enforcement staff (Banks et al., 2016).
• State of California Commission on Peace Officer Standard and Training (POST) is a
state legislative created organization that sets the minimum standards of training and
selection for California law enforcement (Commission on Peace Officer Standard and
Training, 2020).
Organization of the Dissertation
This exploratory study is organized into the following five chapters. Chapter One
provided a brief introduction to the problem of practice and an overview of the research. Chapter
Two will review the existing literature related to promising practices that aim to understand the
law enforcement recruitment challenges associated with recruiting Millennials. Chapter Three
will introduce the research methodology. Chapter Four will present the findings. Chapter Five
10
will discuss the implications of the results, the limitations of the data collected, and what the
study means for law enforcement recruitment.
11
Chapter Two: Literature Review
This literature review covers four topic areas that emerged from the review process.
These topic areas are the need to fill law enforcement vacancies, potential Millennial law
enforcement candidates, expectations and accountability for law enforcement recruiters, and
identifying the ideal law enforcement candidate. Although the literature presented here has been
applied to various problems, this review focuses primarily on the literature's application to
exploring more effective ways of identifying, recruiting, and hiring Law Enforcement Officers.
The Cost of Vacant Law Enforcement Officer Positions
California law enforcement agencies fill the vacancies with overtime, not new officers
(Ashton & Reese, 2019). Ashton and Reese (2019) explained that the overall cost of filling
vacancies more than doubled from 2012 to 2017 for seventy-nine of California's 482 cities. In
2018, Ashton and Reese (2019) conducted interviews with several California city and county
administrators. They discovered that law enforcement agencies such as Sacramento Police
Department had 72 vacant police officer positions and were the norm instead of the exception in
the post-2008 recession economic job boom. To cover the vacancy gaps while still providing
essential police services, current officers are paid overtime rates at a time-and-a-half of their
regular pay rate to cover the positions. In both Rector's (2019) and Ashton and Reese's (2019)
research, they discovered that although overtime cost (at a rate of one and a half times the regular
cost) was high, it was less than the cost of hiring a full-time police officer. Rector's (2019) and
Ashton and Reese's (2019) research also indicated that it is an unsustainable path, although it is a
more cost-effective option.
The cost of not filling vacant positions is more than an economic-cost; overworking
employees leads to high employee burnout rates and diminishing public service levels (Senjo,
12
2011). Although these costs may not be a budgeted line items, they are actual public safety costs
and should be considered when developing recruitment goals and strategies (Senjo, 2011).
Millennial’s Work-Related Goals
In 2019, Millennials became the largest generation of available workers in the United
States workforce at just over 72.1 million (Fry, 2020). With a continuously growing labor market
sector, Millennials seek out and expect from a future employer can no longer be brushed aside by
recruiters. Millennials have grown up in a world of choices and inclusion; they are looking for
employment that offers emotional control and flexibility (Pew Research Center for the People
and the Press, 2007). Today's Millennial candidate, tomorrow's potential Law Enforcement
Officer, is also seeking a work-life balance, more so than the generation before them.
Millennials' Desire for a Work-Life Balance
The concept of work-life balance can mean different things to different people. Guest
(2002) suggests five models of work-life balance; however, two of the most common models that
affect American workers are the segmentation and spillover models. According to Guest (2002),
work and nonwork lives happen in a silo in the segmentation model and do not touch each other.
The spillover model hypothesizes that work-life and nonwork life can positively or negatively
influence each other (Guest, 2002). Ehrhart et al. (2012) suggested that Millennials view work-
life policies more than an employer’s recruitment sales pitch. These policies signal that an
organization is willing to support an employees' needs and conveys a perception of justice within
the organization (Ehrhart et al., 2012).
As Adams et al. (1996) research suggest, an employee’s work-life and family-life are
continually shifting and trying to balance between conflict and support. When the work-life
demands more time than capacity allows, disputes arise in both the home and work. The
13
multifront conflict is likely to lead to a lowering of support from home and work. Burke's (1988)
study, which specifically focused on Law Enforcement Officer’s work-life balance, explained
that when a police officer's work-life has high infringement into family-life, police officers suffer
higher alienation levels, mental burnout, degraded health, and experienced less job satisfaction.
Agolla 's (2009) research found that career Law Enforcement Officers suffer higher incidences of
health-related problems and tend to die younger than those in other high-stress occupations.
More so than generations before them, Millennials are less interested in allowing a career to
define who they are and instead seek a career that will enable them to live a life with a purpose
(Clifton, 2016).
Millennials' Commitment to Purpose Over Employer
Millennials are just as committed to their chosen profession as generations before them;
however, Millennials are not committed to their employer (Moore, 2014). In a survey conducted
by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (2011) of 35,401 students from 599
colleges and universities from across the United States, Millennials identified the ability to
improve their community as almost as crucial as obtaining a high paying first job. The Millennial
generation is service-oriented and willing to work in positions of community service or social
responsibility rather than highly paid low social impact careers, according to the research
conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (2011).
Besides the need to have a purpose and understand the benefit their work is producing in
the community, Millennials also seek upward mobility and recognition or validation within the
organization (Smith, 2016). In traditional law enforcement, new or commonly referred to as a
“rookie officer,” spends several years driving police cars, responding to calls from the public,
and proving their ability to be police officers before they are considered for other assignments or
14
promotions (Spence et al., 2016). However, those agencies that can change rapidly and adapt to
the new employee demands will attract tomorrow’s best and brightest (Lawsson, 2009).
Recruiting Obstacles
The first obstacle law enforcement recruiters face when finding protentional candidates is
competition in the labor market (Chambers et al., 1998). Law enforcement recruiters compete to
hire many of the same candidates sought by other government and private employment sectors.
Law enforcement often cannot compete with generous benefits packages offered in the private
sector. Additionally, when the economy has high unemployment, such as the current 6.3 percent
January 2021unemployment rate (United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2021), government
revenue decreases and reduces the available job opportunities. Law enforcement also struggles to
attract top talent because of the inherent job dangers and low pay.
Law enforcement work is inherently dangerous. The rate of officers killed in the line of
duty over the last six years has been at a steady incline. In 2019, 146 Law Enforcement Officers
were killed in the line of duty (Officer Down Memorial Page, 2019). In contrast, 12 United
States soldiers in Iraq and 18 in Afghanistan died of combat-related injuries during the same
period (Stars and Stripes, 2020; Statista, 2021). After addressing the job's dangers, law
enforcement recruiters must overcome the next obstacle when recruiting prospective candidates,
salary. Wilson et al. (2014) research demonstrated Law Enforcement Officers' salaries could also
contribute to the widening recruitment gap.
Compared with many private-sector competitors, low pay can make law enforcement
recruiting even more challenging. Guzman's (2019) research demonstrated that the average
median household income in the United States was $61,937.00 between 2017 and 2018, a
sustainable income in most states in the nation. In contrast, the median salary of police officers
15
and detectives, in 2018, in the United States was $61,380 (United States Bureau of Labor
Statistics, 2018). Additionally, the median law enforcement salary lumps in agencies from the
higher-paid coastal regions. It is common for police officers in the lower southern states such as
Mississippi, for example, to receive an average yearly salary of $36,290 (DePietro, 2020).
Although this may seem like a livable wage in many southern states, a 2018 Massachusetts
Institute of Technology study (Nadeau & Glasmeier, 2018) revealed that a livable wage for a
family of four in Mississippi was $55,240.00 in 2017. Mas (2006) found an emerging connection
between higher-paying law enforcement agencies' ability to recruit and retain higher caliber
officers and their ability to provide higher law enforcement services for the community they
serve. When law enforcement agency budgets are stretched thin on salaries, and other priorities,
spending money on recruitment does not seem necessary. While budget realities will impact a
law enforcement agency's potential to reach its recruiting goals, recruiting budgets should still be
a priority (Scrivner, 2016).
Budget for Recruiting Efforts
Evidence shows that increasing recruitment budgets, specifically focused on recruiting
activities, directly correlates to the number of prospective candidates an agency receives (Mas,
2006). Mas' (2006) research also argues that increasing spending on recruitment without clearly
defined benchmarks can have the same negative results as not budgeting for recruitment. Switzer
(2006) found that having a dedicated recruiting budget was essential to staying focused on hiring
top talent, with over half of the law enforcement agencies polled, indicating recruiting was a
formalized budgeted line item. Without an assigned recruiting budget, administrators are likely
to defer recruiting expenditures until next year or until additional funds are available (Langham,
2017). Having a budgeted line item dedicated to recruiting demonstrates to the department
16
members that recruiting and hiring quality officers is a priority of the administration (Langham,
2017).
As Switzer's (2006) research demonstrated, allocating recruitment funds without a plan
on how to use those funds is more ineffective than not allocating the funds at all. Law
enforcement agencies who focus on what they want their recruiting dollars to accomplish and set
clear, concise goals are better positioned to achieve their recruitment goals. Hipps’ (2017)
research points out that spending money on focused or directed internet advertising campaigns
leads to increased job opening awareness amongst Millennials. As Hipps (2017) demonstrated,
90% of people ages 18 to 29 use online platforms to find information about job opportunities. As
Zall's (2000) research discovered, the average cost-per-hire for internet advertising was
approximately $377, while the cost-per-hire using traditional advertising was about $3,295.
Given the cost comparison and the number of Millennials using the internet to search for jobs, it
is more cost-effective to use internet recruiting (Zall, 2000).
The Law Enforcement Recruiters Training Needs
Thomas and Ray's (2000) research explained that the healthiest way to determine an
organization's effectiveness is to evaluate its ability to recruit, hire, and develop talented
employees. As with most professions, Law Enforcement Officers do not receive training
regarding becoming a professional recruiter as part of their education at the police academy
(California Peace Officer Standards and Training, 2020). The professional recruiter is a
profession in and of itself and requires unique skills and training.
The United States Army (2019) identified several keys areas of expertise they expect
recruiters to master in the United States Army Recruitment Manual. Many of the traits and skills
the Army wants in their recruiters (honesty, integrity, and professionalism) are the same traits
17
and skills Law Enforcement Officers are taught in the academy (United States Army, 2019). One
skill the manual emphasizes is the learned skill of networking. The Army defines this skill as
gaining access to prospective candidates and gaining access to what the Army identifies as Key
Leader Engagements (United States Army, 2019). The United States Army (2019) defines a Key
Leader Engagement person who has "specific access to qualified markets" (p. 56). For a law
enforcement recruiter, a Key Leader Engagement could be an academic Dean overseeing the
criminal justice department at a university or community college. Law enforcement academies
do not teach Key Leader Engagements because there is no need for them when working standard
law enforcement duties (Commission on Peace Officer Standard and Training, 2019). However,
law enforcement recruiters need these skills because they are working throughout the state and
even traveling out of state to find and hire tomorrow's police officers (Maciag, 2018). Without
formal training, a police officer may not inherently understand the importance of relationship-
building with an educator at the local community college and miss making those Key Leader
Engagements. Without formalized, standardized training, expectations, and accountability also
become unstandardized and misguided (Bregman, 2016).
Accountability and Expectations for Law Enforcement Recruiters
Organizations cannot have accountability without expectations (Burke, 2005). Both
accountability and expectations start at the leadership of an organization. Once a leader provides
clear and consistent objectives, milestones, and goals, the stakeholders' expectations of the job
duties are clear and attainable. As Melendéz's (2001) research demonstrates, when leadership
shares individual expectations with stakeholders, all involved stakeholders can more effectively
work towards organizational expectations.
Duncan (2018) explained accountability is about applying consequences when
18
performance is not desired. Accountability does not have to be an abrupt consequence; as the
evidence demonstrates, holding underperformers accountable should not be a surprise to the
stakeholder either (Duncan, 2018). Providing regular and continuous feedback on ongoing
performance ensures that stakeholders hold themselves accountable to the organization (Dorsey
& Muller-Hanson, 2017). Locke et al.’s (1981) research demonstrate the goal-setting theory of
motivation, which suggests the most compelling performance results from challenging, attenable,
and specific goals. Although goals should be challenging, attenable, and specific, Locke et al.
(1981) research explained that one variable when researching organizations is the organization's
employees. The employee must want to achieve the stated goals. To help inspire achievement,
Locke et al. (1981) research explained that allowing employees to conduct self-assessment and
goal setting helps support strategy development, employee output effort, and persistence in
reaching goals.
Setting Recruitment Performance Benchmarks
According to the research conducted by Burton and Raedeke (2008), benchmarking
increases productivity amplifies talent, and positively affects the performance of employees and
the overall organization. Burton and Raedeke (2008) argued that these positive effects are a
product of concentration, focus, increasing employee perseverance, and advance all involved
stakeholders. Setting recruitment goals should involve all stakeholders, including law
enforcement management, recruitment program supervisors, and law enforcement recruiters, to
obtain what van der Hoek et al. (2018) describes as goal clarity. van der Hoek et al. (2018)
identified goal clarity as an understanding among team members of the goals and how they
perceive them.
As Anderson's (2018) research on setting goals demonstrates, setting a goal to increase
19
productivity should be based on realism, even if that realism is designed solely as a driver to
increase productivity. Anderson (2018) explained that realism is demonstratable, explainable,
and obtainable for the organization. Individuals should believe that they can attain those goals if
they work hard and apply their skills and knowledge. Setting high but achievable goals as a
motivational tool is not the same as consequence manipulation or the more commonly used term
“incentive.” Consequence manipulations, at first glance, may appear as an appropriate tool to
encourage employees, such as recruiters; however, as McGee and Johnson (2015) explain, it can
lead to recruiters performing poorly and only working towards avoiding punishment. Employees
instead work towards gaining the incentive instead of increasing job performance. Suppose
recruiter motivation is based solely on incentives as a vehicle to increase recruitment. The risk of
recruiting candidates because they fill a quota versus meeting the standards puts the recruiting
program's integrity at risk.
Organizational communication has a long-documented history of being critical to success
and sometimes even as the critical failure point for employees to identify goals and understand
how their task furthers their mission (Berger, 2014). Communication within an organization
should not be merely top-down; it should be circular and allow everyone to have input in goal
setting. Furthermore, employees should identify critical skills that advance the organization's
mission (Berger, 2014). Internal communication adds value to the organization, improves
employee engagement, and develops a positive organizational culture (Stegaroiu & Talalo,
2014).
Communication Lays Foundation for Recruitment Success
Open communication with an organization is the key when formulating plans, detailing
actions to employ the plan, and evaluating the effectiveness once the strategy has been
20
employed. Rowe (2018) noted that a shared learning barrier in most organizations is a lack of
communication. Although a lack of communication can lead to various problems, the costliest
problem is often a lack of understanding of required job skills and tasks (Rowe, 2018). Miller's
(1981) research focused on having open communication lines with everyone within the
organization when a recruiting campaign is ongoing. Miller's (1981) research findings
demonstrate that creating a network of informal recruiters helps expand an organization's reach.
Although it may not be the clerical or janitorial staff's job to recruit new employees, they may
know a candidate or, at a minimum, expand their recruitment campaign network into
communities that may not have been reachable before.
As a law enforcement recruiter, communication is not always limited to internal
organizational communication. Much of a recruiter's communication involves external
communication in recruitment campaigns (Breaugh, 2009). A law enforcement recruiter's ability
to communicate general workplace knowledge within the organization is essential for overall
organizational health and growth. However, the ability to communicate the recruitment strategy
inside and outside the organization is essential to a successful recruitment campaign. A clear and
concise communication message is vital in developing the best recruitment campaign possible
(Galli et al., 2014). Developing a recruitment feedback cycle allows recruiters to improve the
learning process and develop a better campaign for the next workforce shortage (Breaugh, 2016).
Incorporating key concepts such as recruitment objectives, benchmarking, market research
(candidate responses to a campaign), and evaluation of campaign performance can help
organizations develop core strategies to find ideal candidates (Breaugh, 2016). A recruitment
campaign should not only be focused on filling current vacancies; the campaign should be
developed to leave lasting impressions and help develop the organization's brand for future
21
recruitment efforts (Galli et al., 2014).
Figure 1
A Model of the Employee Recruitment Process
22
Identifying the Ideal Law Enforcement Candidate
The hiring trends in today's law enforcement are a product of yesterday's law
enforcement history and reflect the changes in organizational goals (Jordan et al., 2009). Policing
itself has changed, adapted, and evolved over the years, and with each change and adaptation, the
selection process has evolved (Jordan et al., 2009). Today's hiring has moved away from political
favors and family legacy appointments to hiring candidates based on merit selections (Ho, 2001;
Thornton, 2003). As Dantzker's (2002) research demonstrates, law enforcement organizations are
now faced with determining how to identify the best-qualified candidates based on test data and
candidate demonstrated abilities. In addition to selecting candidates based on data and
demonstrated skills, agencies are trying to find the right balance between a candidate's
aggression and passion for the job (Dantzker, 2002).
Public options towards law enforcement can be linked directly to the community's
fearfulness and perceived problems of disorder and crime in the local neighborhood (Maxson et
al., 2003). Attracting a balanced mix of those interested and attracted to the adventurous side of
law enforcement and those who are drawn to a career because of a service-oriented mindset can
be a struggle for law enforcement recruiters (Scrviner, 2016). Candidates looking to become
police officers because of the adventurous career opportunities should be sought out as
protentional candidates; however, they may be misinformed or unaware of the profession's full
aspect (Scrivner, 2016). Law enforcement excitement is not what is seen in movies and
television. The amount of excitement and adventure is outweighed by the amount of time a
police officer spends writing reports and handling more route non-adventurous calls (Dempsey et
al., 2018). Scrivner (2016) explained that hiring candidates that do not have a realistic
understanding of the profession could create another employee shortage when those misinformed
23
employees leave for other opportunities. Scrivner's (2016) research can also be applied to talking
points when recruiters explain their cities' statistics and demographics to prospective candidates.
If a recruiter works for a city with a low crime rate and fewer calls for service, sharing that
information with candidates may help self-select some candidates. The more adventurous
candidates may elect to seek employment with another agency, saving thousands of dollars in
recruitment, selection, and training cost (Meade, 2016).
Identification and Selection of Candidates
When recruiting candidates, the early identification and selection of those protentional
candidates’ is the most critical aspect of recruitment (Scaramella et al., 2011). During this
recruitment phase, recruiters establish lists of potentially viable candidates that the agency will
later choose from when making hiring selections. According to Scaramella et al. (2011), "Poor
recruitment and selection procedures result in hiring or promoting personnel who cannot or will
not communicate effectively with diverse populations, exercise discretion properly, or perform
the multitude of functions required of the police" (p. 26).
During Morison's (2017) research, several interviews were conducted with law
enforcement managers from across the nation seeking to identify trends in selecting and
identifying ideal candidates. Morison's (2017) research demonstrates no single trend; however,
many managers shared the same thought process and favored hiring those who shared the same
value as the organization. Law enforcement agencies are willing to train people to become Law
Enforcement Officers; however, the candidates must already have qualities that align with the
organization's values and stakeholders (Morison, 2017).
In addition to trends, no single candidate trait could be identified; Hilal et al.'s (2017)
research demonstrated that during several qualitative interviews with Sheriffs and Chiefs of
24
Police, the same types of skills continued to come up in the conversation when asked what they
look for in candidates. Those reoccurring themes focused on the candidate’s interpersonal skills
and ability to gather information accurately and respond effectively to that information (Hilal et
al., 2017). Hilal et al. (2017) also found that empathy, effective communication (oral and
written), and compassion were commonly mentioned skills in high demand but often in short
supply during the candidate selection phase. Given that each agency determines what their ideal
candidate looks like in the form of skills possessed, each recruiter should understand what their
agency is looking for when recruiting candidates for a Law Enforcement Officer position.
Recruitment of The Millennial Candidate
Hubbard's (2019) research into understanding how the Millennial generation is
assimilating into law enforcement found that the Millennial generation will soon transition into
most of the workforce. Therefore, to recruit Law Enforcement Officers, law enforcement
agencies must adapt to the recruiting practices that attract Millennials. As Pohl's (2018) research
demonstrates, recruiters must know why a Millennial candidate is applying for employment with
the organization. As Oliver (2017) suggested, many long-term recruitment programs do not work
simply because police managers do not use the right marketing strategies to attract candidates.
Millennials want to understand what will be expected of them in the career, understand how their
position in the origination will make a difference in the community, and how they will provide
for their families while working for the organization (Pohl, 2018).
As White et al.’s (2010) research demonstrated, Millennials listed job security,
opportunities for career advancement, and opportunities to help in the community are three of the
top five reasons they sought a law enforcement career. In researching why, the United States
Army was missing their recruitment goals in 2018, since 2005, Long's (2019) research
25
determined that a critical reason they failed to meet recruiting goals was they were
unsuccessfully expressing the necessity of the organization to candidates. Army recruiters were
able to sell the occupation specialties, benefits, and other opportunities the Army offered.
However, the recruits could not explain why the Army was the best place for the applicant to use
their skills and how they would benefit the Army's mission and the communities they serve. Law
enforcement recruiters who understand what motivates Millennial candidates will have the upper
hand when selling Law Enforcement Officer positions to prospective candidates.
Clark and Estes' Knowledge, Motivation and Organizational Influences' Framework
This study implemented a modified gap analysis model as its conceptual framework. The
researcher used the Clark and Estes' (2008) gap analysis model to understand organizational
goals and identify the knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences and identify the gap
between the actual performance levels and the organization's preferred performance levels. The
gap analysis progression is generally accomplished by identifying the measurable goals,
examining the gaps in the current performance, hypothesizing possible origins of those gaps, and
confirming the causes of the existing gap, prioritizing causes for correcting the gap, developing
resolutions to close the gap, and assessing the results.
When using gap analysis to determine potential causes for performance gaps, the research
focused on three key areas: knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences. The gap
analysis model was designed to avoid developing inappropriate resolutions by conducting a
thorough study of the likely sources of performance issues. After the possible causes are
identified, a plan to implement and evaluate change recommendations is developed.
This study was constructed as an exploratory study following the general steps of gap
analysis. The study's goal was to identify assets and gaps that impact performance, specifically,
26
the law enforcement recruiter's ability to fill all vacant Law Enforcement Officer positions. Once
the stakeholder goal and competency were determined, knowledge, motivation, and
organizational influences that impact stakeholder capacity were generated based on context-
specific, general learning, and motivation literature.
Law Enforcement Recruiters Knowledge, Motivation and Organizational Influences
A law enforcement recruiters’ knowledge and motivation influences are affected by
several factors; however, in this section, the focus was on determining how they are affected by
organizational influences. This section will discuss the recruiters' assumed conceptual and
procedural knowledge and their assumed motivational constructs of self-efficacy and utility
value influences. In discussing the assumed organizational influences, the section will identify
and explain the culture, work process, and resources within the law enforcement recruiter’s
organization.
Knowledge Influences
In the literature, the knowledge-related influences pertinent to exploring a law
enforcement recruiter’s ability to fill all vacant Law Enforcement Officer positions have been
examined in general terms. In this portion of the study, a more in-depth examination of
knowledge influences will be introduced. As Thomas and Ray's (2000) research explained, it is
appropriate to evaluate their ability to recruit, hire, and develop talented employees to determine
an organization's effectiveness. A recruiter's knowledge of how to locate an ideal candidate,
understanding of the candidate's motivations (Pohl, 2018), and apply effective strategies to
recruit Millennials into law enforcement (Hilal et al., 2017) will allow the recruiter to recruit and
fill all available Law Enforcement Officer positions.
This section explores the types of knowledge possessed by the law enforcement recruiter.
27
To understand recruiters’ knowledge comprehensively, Krathwohl’s (2002) framework was used
to explore knowledge influences. This study focused on conceptual, procedural, and
metacognitive knowledge. Krathwohl (2002) defined conceptual as a knowledge of principles,
classifications, theories, models, and categories. Bloom et al. (1956) explained that procedural
knowledge is knowledge about the steps taken to accomplish a task or subject-specific
techniques and methods. Metacognitive is described as self-knowledge (Bloom et al., 1956).
Recruiters’ Ability to Market a Career as a Law Enforcement Officer to Millennial Candidates
A recruiter needs to know how to market the Law Enforcement Officer position as a
career choice to Millennial candidates for various reasons, including proper allocation of limited
resources and creating an applicant pool for current and future employment vacancies. In
California, almost 75% of all California law enforcement agencies spend less the $5,000
annually on recruitment (Wilson & Grammich, 2009). With a limited budget, the available
resources must be used in the most cost-effective way possible. Social media recruitment
campaigns have minimal startup costs and need limited training to be effective (Dennis, 2014).
The upfront cost of posting pictures and videos on a law enforcement agency's social media page
or pages is the minimal cost of taking a photograph or video. Even that cost can often be offset
by taking photographs or videos of Law Enforcement Officer who are already engaged in day-to-
day law enforcement functions (Dennis, 2014). In a survey conducted by Human Resources
Daily Advisor (2019), 94% of Millennials stated they respond more favorably to social media
postings that include videos. A law enforcement recruiter can use social media posts to highlight
all the organization's assignment opportunities in a short self-produced recruitment video without
a sizeable budgetary expenditure.
28
The labor market theory of supply and demand expands and contracts based on economic
markets and labor pools' availability. By the year 2025, Millennials will become 50% of the
available labor market, and the competition to hire them continues to increase (Pinzaru et al.,
2017). Armed with this knowledge, recruiters know they must continually be recruiting and
marketing their career opportunities (United States Army, 2019). Creating an applicant pool to
select from to fill future vacancies solves this problem in two ways. Recruiters can continuously
review applications and connect with the best candidates currently available in the market
(Anderson, 2020).
Additionally, when positions become available, the timeframe it takes to hire a candidate
is reduced. With heightened competition for labor, every advantage should be employed to hire
the best candidate possible (Anderson, 2020). This study explored a law enforcement recruiter’s
ability to identify, select, recruit, and hire Millennial candidates.
Recruiters’ Understanding of How to Motivate Millennials to Consider Law Enforcement
Understanding the internal motivation of a Millennial candidate and explaining how that
motivation can be applied in law enforcement is key to recruiting Millennials. Although initially
thought to be less career-driven than previous generations, research has demonstrated that
Millennials are just as driven as past generations; however, they are driven by different passions
(Stewart et al., 2017). The Millennial focus is less of a single scope career focus and more of a
multiple lens view of family, community, and career (Stewart et al., 2017). Their more
comprehensive view of priorities means recruiters should address how a career in law
enforcement can integrate a candidate's motivations. Specifically, this study examined how law
enforcement recruiters can effectively and efficiently recruit Millennial candidates for Law
Enforcement Officer positions.
29
Recruiters’ Ability to Apply Effective Strategies to Recruit Millennials into Law Enforcement
Employing effective recruitment strategies is a continually evolving strategy that adjusts
based on the intended audience. Millennials are a technology-driven generation with immediate
access to worldwide information (Gilbert, 2011). Explaining employment opportunities to a
Millennial is not about future career opportunities or monetary motivations; Millennials want to
understand what the career opportunity will offer them now (Gilbert, 2011). Gilbert’s (2011)
research also explains that Millennials are interested in the career's future benefits; however,
today's benefits should be clearly explained upfront when recruiters want to hold a prospective
candidate's attention.
Langham's (2017) research into adapting recruitment strategies for Millennials suggests
providing anonymous surveys to candidates at the beginning of the hiring process asking why
they seek employment as a Law Enforcement Officer; it will offer insight into what other
candidates in the same demographics value as important. The candidate’s responses can rapidly
be transformed into actionable intelligence and used to recruit the next group of candidates.
Table 1 summarizes the assumed knowledge influences and types of knowledge used in
the research.
Table 1
Knowledge Influences
Assumed Knowledge Influence Knowledge Type
Recruiters’ ability to market a career as a Law
Enforcement Officer to Millennial candidates
Procedural
Recruiters’ understanding of how to motivate
Millennials to consider law enforcement
Conceptual
Recruiters’ ability to apply effective strategies to
recruit Millennials into law enforcement
Procedural
30
Motivational Influences
Motivation to complete a specific task or accomplish a series of goals can be internal and
external, depending on the drivers. In addition to knowledge, motivation is a crucial influence in
a law enforcement recruiter's performance (Clark & Estes, 2008). This section will review the
literature that focuses on motivation-related influences pertinent to law enforcement recruiters.
Motivation is a psychological process that inspires individuals to apply the appropriate mental
effort to succeed, actively choose to engage in, and persist in accomplishing a task until
completion (Clark & Estes, 2008). In reviewing research, two motivational theories continued to
surface as primary motivational influences of law enforcement recruiters, self-efficacy and utility
value. Self-efficacy is defined as one’s own belief in their ability to perform a specific task at a
designated level (Bandura, 1995). According to Wigfield (1994), the utility value is a task-
directed concept. A task value reflects the task's importance and predicts the individual starting a
task, and the effort one invests in the task. The sections below review the motivational variables
of self-efficacy and utility value to identify motivational influences affecting law enforcement
recruiters.
Self-Efficacy Theory
Self-efficacy is an internal belief about one’s ability to affect their performance in a
specific area. Self-efficacy has been demonstrated to be a “powerful influence on individuals’
motivation, achievement, and self-regulation” (Wentzel et al., 2009, p. 37). High self-efficacy
has been shown to have positive outcomes and affects one’s choice of activities, effort expended
on task, and overall achievement (Pajares & Valiante, 1997). In the context of recruiting
Millennials for the position of Law Enforcement Officers', self-efficacy is the self-belief that a
law enforcement recruiter can effectively recruit and hire Millennials to fill all available Law
31
Enforcement Officer positions. To successfully achieve the assumed self-efficacy, the law
enforcement recruiter needs to have confidence that they can, in fact, market and recruit
Millennials.
Bandura and Adams’ (1977) research demonstrated that personal performance
accomplishments provide highly influential input on the user’s self-efficacy due to its personal
proficiency experiences. This positive feedback helps improve the person's overall self-
confidence by employing the technique. Schunk (2000) research explained that self-regulation
and self-reflection processes include setting achievement goals, using effective strategies to
organize, and establishing a productive work environment. When law enforcement recruiters
possess a high self-efficacy and employ self-regulation and self-reflection strategies, they can
achieve the goal of recruiting and filling all available Law Enforcement Officer positions with
Millennials.
Utility Value
Utility value theory, which is one facet of expectancy-value and specifically, value
orientation theory, is broadly understood as a task that will be completed today for the greater
good of accomplishing a future goal (Suzuki & Sakurai, 2011). The expectancy-value theory
states that one’s achievement-related choice is motivated by a person's expectation of succeeding
and the particular task's value (Eccles & Wigfield, 2002). The belief that achieving a goal or set
of goals today is necessary, even if they seem insignificant today, to contribute to a later success
in which the greater good of the organization will reap the reward (Wigfield, 1994). In the
context of law enforcement recruiters needing to understand the value in recruiting Millennials,
the utility value is the greater good of filling all available Law Enforcement Officer positions.
Although utility value continued to surface during the research of law enforcement recruiters’
32
motivational inputs, the utility value has a strong connection to employee commitment within the
motivational context.
Gagné (2014) research explained the term motivation is used to express shorter-term ties
to an event or decision; however, the word commitment is used as a binder to link the person to a
long-term project or goal. In the context of utility value and law enforcement recruiting, the
utility value is a recruiter's commitment to their position. Recruiting Millennials and filling all
available Law Enforcement Officer positions in their law enforcement agency is not a short-term
goal. The law enforcement recruiter should understand how small tasks such as posting a
recruiting video on a social media site today could have lasting effects and bring about positive
results for the organization in the years to come.
Table 2 provides an overview of each motivation construct presented and its connection
to the motivation influence.
Table 2
Motivation Influences
Motivation Construct Motivation Influence
Self-Efficacy Law enforcement recruiters need to believe in being capable of filling
all available Law Enforcement Officer positions with Millennials.
Utility Value Law enforcement recruiters need to perceive value in specific
recruitment efforts targeted towards Millennials.
33
Organizational Influences
Organizational influences often play a large role in the outcome of the organization's
success. Organizational performance gaps can be attributed to organizational barriers placed
within an organization’s processes and overall structure. Clark and Estes’ (2008) research
explained that organizations whose systems are inadequate could play roles in creating those
performance gaps. This study focuses on exploring gaps in resources, effective organizational
communication, and the process in which the work is being accomplished to address the
organizational influences for the law enforcement recruiter. Although tangible items such as
resources and work processes are easily observable, effective organizational communication is
an abstract concept. Effective organizational communication requires no company resource
expenditures and can lead to employees having an increased sense of job satisfaction and
commitment to the organization, which may increase work productivity (Rajhans, 2012).
Communication of the Importance of Recruiting Millennials
Law enforcement organizations should communicate to law enforcement recruiters the
importance of recruiting Millennials, clearly identifying the why and explain how recruiting
Millennials will benefit the organization. One of those benefits is the organization evolves and
becomes more reflective of the current generation. Krislov's (2012) research demonstrates the
need for law enforcement to adapt to community-based law enforcement and understand the
changing community views. Law enforcement should strive to reflect the community they serve.
Explaining to law enforcement recruiters the value Millennials could bring to the organization
will allow the recruiters to understand the organization's direction and improve upon their ability
to recruit Millennials to fill all available Law Enforcement Officer positions.
34
Clear Identification of the Ideal Millennial Candidate
Law enforcement organizations must provide law enforcement recruiters with clearly
identifiable traits they seek in Millennial candidates to help recruiters focus on recruiting efforts.
Law enforcement organizations have internal processes that affect how they see the world, act
towards one another, and prescribe how Law Enforcement Officers interact with the public they
serve (Mayer & Erickson, 2011). Law enforcement is also steeped in policies and procedures that
explain everything from conducting a traffic stop to notify if a tree is blocking the roadway
(Orrick, 2004). A communication breakdown occurs when recruiters seek identifiable traits and
characteristics their organization believes are ideal for their candidates. Hilal et al.'s (2017)
research explained that there is no single “one size fits all” candidate that every organization is
looking for; instead, each organization should hire the best fit for the community. When an
organization provides the recruiter with a list of clearly definable traits and characteristics they
seek in a candidate, the recruiter can tailor a recruitment campaign to fit those needs. In doing so,
the organization and recruiter spend less time and resources in the recruitment process.
Provision of Dedicated Resources for the Recruiter
Although Clark and Estes’s (2008) research explained that resources are often physical
items such as office supplies, personnel, and equipment. In the context of this study, the
resources focused on are budgets, training, and personnel. Law enforcement recruiters need
formalized recruitment training, dedicated recruiting budgets, and adequate recruiting personnel
to effectively fulfill their goal of filling all available Law Enforcement Officer positions within
their organization. Originations who invest in recruiting resources demonstrate they value the
recruiter position and place value in hiring new talent to improve the organization (Hogan,
2014). Hogan (2014) research demonstrated that an effective recruiter's cost is offset by the time
35
and effort recruiters spending screening out candidates that do not fit into the organization's
culture or lack the desired training and experience. Candidates view the hiring processes as an
introduction to the organization's culture. A negative experience during the recruitment phase
could cost an organization the current applicant and have lasting repercussions (Davis, 2013).
Table 3 shows how each organizational influence category is connected to organizational
influence.
Table 3
Organizational Influences
Organizational Influence Category Organizational Influences
Cultural Setting The organization needs to communicate the importance
of specifically recruiting Millennials
Cultural Setting The organization needs to clearly identify the ideal
candidate to assist recruiters in targeted recruiting
efforts
Cultural Setting The organization needs to provide the recruiter with
dedicated resources
36
Conceptual Framework: The Connection Between Knowledge, Motivation, and
Organizational Influences
Conceptual frameworks explain the path the research followed and how it is grounded
securely in theoretical constructs (Adom et al., 2018). Establishing a conceptual framework is
paramount for a research study to retain credibility and trustworthiness (Amankwaa, 2016;
Maxwell, 2013). The conceptual framework identifies the structure from which the variables,
theories, and research questions are studied and examined (Maxwell, 2013; Merriam & Tisdell,
2015). As identified in Maxwell’s (2013) research, the conceptual framework identifies the
assumptions, theories, system of concepts, models, beliefs, the connections to the research
phenomena and beliefs. Additionally, this framework is used to explore sampling procedures and
data collection and identifies analysis strategies, research design, and identify potential design
flaws (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015).
The model used to understand the knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences
in this study is the Clark and Estes (2008) model. This chapter has examined how each influence
(knowledge, motivation, and organizational) is assumed to play separate yet intertwined roles in
recruiting and hiring Millennials for Law Enforcement Officers' position. An employee’s
motivation, knowledge, skills, and organizational barriers are interconnected in complex
performance complications (Clark & Estes, 2008). Each influence pillar (knowledge, motivation,
and organizational) stands alone; however, together, they play significant and equal parts in
supporting the law enforcement organization.
It is not enough to identifying conceptual frameworks and models to convey the overall
understanding of the research structure. It is important to understand the affiliation between
influences, barriers, and the connection between them and stakeholders, in this case, law
37
enforcement recruiters. Maxwell's (2013) research explained that one must understand how those
knowledge, motivational, and organizational barriers affect the stakeholder’s ability to achieve
their goal, in this case, to fill all available Law Enforcement Officer positions within their
organization. This study attempts to understand and explain how law enforcement's
organizational influences of communication and resources impede the law enforcement
recruiter's influence (conceptual and procedural) in achieving performance goals. Clark and
Estes’ (2008) research further explained that when designing an effective organizational process,
the designer should consider how organizational influences interact and affects a stakeholder
influence.
This study's primary focus was to investigate and understand the knowledge, motivation,
and organizational influences that stand as potential barriers to the law enforcement recruiters’
ability to achieve the goal of filling all available Law Enforcement Officer positions with their
organizations. The diagram (Figure 2) demonstrates the organizational influences (blue circle),
stakeholders’ knowledge (red rectangle) and motivational influences (purple rectangle), the
relationship between knowledge and motivation (black arrow), and the relationship (black arrow)
to the stakeholders’ goal (black rectangle) filling all available Law Enforcement Officer
positions with their agency.
38
Figure 2
A Model of the Organizational Influences
Stakeholder Goal:
Fill all vacant Law
Enforcement Officer positions
within the law enforcement
agency
Stakeholders Knowledge
Procedural- Recruiters’ ability
to market a career as a law
enforcement officer to
Millennial candidates.
Conceptual- Recruiters’
understanding of how to
motivate Millennials to
consider law enforcement.
Procedural- Recruiters’ ability
to apply effective strategies to
recruit Millennials into law
enforcement.
Stakeholders Motivation
Self-Efficacy- Law enforcement
recruiters need to believe in
being capable of filling all
available Law Enforcement
Officer position with
Millennials.
Utility Value- Law enforcement
recruiters need to understand the
value in recruiting Millennials.
Organizational Influences
Cultural Setting: Organizational communication
about the importance of recruiting Millennials.
Cultural Setting: Organizational identification
of the ideal candidate.
Cultural Setting: Organizational identification
of the ideal candidate
39
Summary
This chapter reviewed and highlighted the stakeholder knowledge influences (conceptual
and procedural), motivational influences (self-efficacy and utility value), organizational
influences, communication, and resource and aligned those influences with the research
questions and stakeholder goal. As discussed, Millennials are quickly becoming the most
considerable portion of the available workforce. Additionally, the competition for those
Millennials is becoming increasingly fierce. Employers must understand how to effectively
recruit those who are available in the limited employment pool. A recruiter's knowledge of
locating ideal candidates, understanding the candidate's motivations (Pohl, 2018), and applying
effective strategies to recruit Millennials into law enforcement (Hilal et al., 2017) will allow
recruiters to recruit and fill all available Law Enforcement Officer positions.
Clark and Estes’s (2008) conceptual framework stipulates that each influence
(knowledge, motivation, and organizational) has separate yet intertwined effects on the
stakeholder goal achievement. It is imperative that each concept is understood as playing a part
in each of the other concepts when evaluating discrepancies in the work process. Maxwell's
(2013) research reaffirms this understanding, explaining the importance of understanding how
that knowledge, motivational, and organizational barriers affect a stakeholder’s ability to achieve
their goal. This chapter's literature review has highlighted the knowledge, motivational and
organizational influences that are protentional inhibitors for law enforcement recruiter to achieve
their stakeholder goal. Chapter 3 will highlight and explain the methodology used in evaluating
these barriers utilizing Clark and Estes’s (2008) Knowledge, Motivation, and Organization
analysis.
40
Chapter Three: Methodology
The purpose of this study is to identify the knowledge and motivation law enforcement
recruiters have as it pertains to hiring Millennials for the position of Law Enforcement Officers
and to identify any organizational barriers that may hinder that goal. This chapter introduces the
methodology for the study and the detailed processes in which the data was collected and
analyzed. The chapter also explains the reasons for selecting the qualitative method approach and
outlines its ethics, limitations, and delimitations.
Research Questions
The following questions guided the research:
1) What are the law enforcement recruiters' knowledge and motivation related to
effectively recruiting and hiring Millennials for the position of Law Enforcement
Officer?
2) In what way does the law enforcement agency support or hinder the law enforcement
recruiters' capacity to effectively recruit Millennials?
Overview of Methodology
The methodology selected for this study was qualitative approach design. This study's
data collection methods included collecting qualitative data by in-person interviews and open-
ended survey questions. As Creswell (1994) and Tashakkori and Creswell (2007) explained,
using a qualitative research approach allows the researcher to have more flexibility to explore the
phenomenon. By providing open-ended questions, the research is guided by the answers the
participants provide. The research becomes content driven, allowing the human side of the study
to become part of the research (Harrison, 2013).
41
Table 4
Data Sources
Research Questions In-Person
Interviews
Survey
What are the law enforcement recruiters'
knowledge and motivation related to effectively
recruiting and hiring Millennials for the position
of Law Enforcement Officer?
X X
In what way does the Law Enforcement Agency
support or hinder the law enforcement
recruiters' capacity to effectively recruit
Millennials?
X X
Data Sources
The data sources used in the study include surveys and interviews. Data collection took
place in the following order: Survey and then individual interviews. Surveys were sent to law
enforcement agencies throughout California and were explicitly addressed to the recruitment
unit. Documents pertaining to recruitment policies and strategies were requested from those
agencies; however, none were available for review. One-on-one interviews with law enforcement
recruiters were conducted following the survey analysis.
Survey
Surveys collect information from a group of people through their responses to a set of
predesignated questions (Check & Schutt, 2012). Singleton and Straits's (2005) research
demonstrates that a survey is the most effective way to gather a large swath of data in the most
expeditious fashion. The survey method included sending surveys to 50 law enforcement
recruiters at 50 different California law enforcement agencies. The survey addressed both
research question number one; What are the law enforcement recruiters' knowledge and
42
motivation related to effectively recruiting and hiring Millennials for the position of Law
Enforcement Officer and number two; In what way does the law enforcement agency support or
hinder the law enforcement recruiters' capacity to recruit Millennials effectively?
Survey Participants
The selection of participants took place using a purposeful sampling method. This
method was selected based on the individuals’ background (Palinkas et al., 2015). The sample
consists of 25 law enforcement recruiters from northern California and 25 law enforcement
recruiters from southern California for 50 participating recruiters. According to Clarke's (2015)
research, the generally accepted dividing line between northern and southern California is the
northern county lines of San Luis Obispo, Kern, and San Bernardino. The agencies were selected
based on the number of Law Enforcement Officers they employ. For example, agencies with
fewer than 30 officers were placed into group one: 31-99, group two consist of agencies between
100- 399, group three: 400-999, group four:1,000-1,500, and group five: 1,501 or more. Five law
enforcement agencies were then selected to receive the survey out of each group (1-5) without
further categorization. The agency breakdown by size further helped develop an understanding
of how agencies of different sizes addressed recruiting. It would be an error in this study to make
no delineation in law enforcement agency size and assume that all law enforcement agencies, no
matter their size, have the same resources to address their recruiting needs.
Survey Instrumentation
The survey consisted of 21 questions containing a variety of open-ended, closed-ended,
and Likert-type items. It took, on average, approximately six and a half minutes to complete,
according to Qualtrics data. The Likert-type items asked participants to indicate agreement from
“strongly agree” to “strongly disagree.” (Joshi et al., 2015). Using Likert-type items allows the
43
researcher to change a participant’s subjectivity into an objective reality in the form of a metered
system score. This survey's items ranged from biographical information about the participant's
law enforcement agency to more focused questions addressing the law enforcement agency's
organizational and motivational influences as it pertains to recruiting Millennials. Appendix A
presents the survey items. The questions were designed to elicit responses from the participants
that would provide the researcher with a thorough understanding of the participant's experience
within their agency regarding recruiting and how it impacts their ability to recruit Millennials
effectively.
Survey Data Collection Procedures
The use of a survey was the first step used in data collection. Email addresses used for
data collection were obtained through publicly available Law Enforcement Agency websites. An
online survey link was sent to the participants. After completing the survey, the data was
automatically compiled using Qualtrics, an online survey tool, and later categorized by the
researcher. Additionally, a separate question at the end of the survey was provided to all survey
participants, which allowed them to indicate whether they would like to participate in a one-on-
one interview. This question was not tied to the survey for analysis purposes; it was only used to
gather information about those who wished to participate in an additional one-on-one interview.
The survey data, therefore, are anonymous.
Survey Data Analysis
The purpose of data analysis was to apply meaning to the data that was collected
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). Accurately coding data is also crucial to provide validity to the
research. The data analysis began with quantitative data gathered from the closed-ended survey
items. Descriptive statistics, such as mean, median, and mode, are commonly used when
44
analyzing the results of surveys and were used in this study (Salkind, 2014). A large portion of
this survey included closed-ended ordinal items. This study also calculated percentage, mode,
and frequency. The data is reported in various methods, including tables and narrative formats.
The open-ended survey items were coded and calculated using Microsoft Excel software. An
enumeration coding and categorization system were used for open-ended survey items. In
quantitative research, numbers are used to establish the significance of a research problem, to
document what is known, and to describe the sample. However, numbers can also generate
meaning from qualitative data and help verify and test the researcher’s interpretations of the data
(Sandelowski, 2001). The non-numerical data was analyzed and coded based on similarities in
answers. For example, law enforcement recruiters were asked to list three ideal traits they want a
Law Enforcement Officer candidate to possess in order to work at their law enforcement agency.
If participants provided similar traits such as trustworthiness or honesty, those answers were
coded as being in the same category. This grouping of similar words enabled the researcher to
categorize answers into useable data.
Survey Data Validity and Reliability
Validity and reliability are terms used to test accuracy and consistency in research
studies. According to Merriam and Tisdell (2015), validity focuses on accurately measuring the
data. Reliability is the standard of measurement, whether the study's findings can be replicated
and produce the same results (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). The Likert-type items in the survey for
motivation influences were designed based on the Motivated Strategies for Learning
Questionnaire (MSLQ), an existing valid and reliable scale (Pintrich et al., 1991). Having a
strategy to retest the results increases the study's reliability (De Vera et al., 2010). In this study,
the retest strategy compares the answers given in the interviews to the surveys.
45
Interview
Upon completion of surveys, one-on-one interviews with five active law enforcement
recruiters were conducted. To gain a representative sample, the study developed two categories
based on the agency's number of Law Enforcement Officers. Agencies with up to 399 Law
Enforcement Officers were placed into category one. Agencies with 400 or more Law
Enforcement Officers were placed into category two. Agencies were broken down into these two
distinct categories because their recurring needs and resources are vastly different from each
other. Larger agencies hire more Law Enforcement Officers than smaller agencies. Smaller
agencies may not have a full-time recruiter position, while a larger agency of 400 Lew
Enforcement Officers may have a team of full-time recruiters. The study aimed to gain five
participants from each agency size-based group for a total of eight to 10 interviews.
Interview Participants
Participants for the interview were selected using a purposeful sampling method. This
method was selected because it involves selecting individuals who have experience with the
research questions (Palinkas et al., 2015). The sample consisted of selecting five active law
enforcement recruiters from the 14 law enforcement agencies who participated in the survey. All
participants who took the survey were invited to participate in a one-on-one interview by
submitting their contact information through a separate question at the end of their survey. The
last question of each survey asked if the participant would allow the researcher to conduct a 60-
minute one-on-one interview. The goal was to interview eight to ten participants; however, only
five participants indicated they were willing to conduct a one-on-one interview.
46
Interview Instrumentation
In selecting the interview method, the researcher determined that one-on-one interviews
were the most effective way to conduct an in-depth analysis of the recruiters’ knowledge,
motivation, and organizational influences pertaining to recruiting Millennials for the position of
Law Enforcement Officer. The interview consists of 19 questions covered in a semi-structured
format over the course of 60 minutes. The interview protocol is presented in Appendix B.
Interview Data Collection Procedures
The procedure for collecting data using one-on-one interviews resulted from survey
participants volunteering to conduct an interview. The interviews took place using the
technology platform Zoom Video Communications, Inc. The interviews were audio and video
recorded and documented via researcher notes, used for later analysis.
Interview Data Analysis
As Laura and Hayes's (2020) research explained, qualitative research methods are not
less sound than quantitative research methods; they are merely different research methods. The
data analysis of these interviews was strictly qualitative. When coding qualitative data, the
researcher should identify the relationship of the data collected from interviews and determine
how that data answers the research questions (Stuckey, 2015). Analyzing qualitative data
typically involves coding the data to identify themes that help answer the research questions
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). In this study, The researcher first reviewed transcripts for
connections to the influences. After reviewing the transcripts, the interviews were coded and
categorized to develop connections to the influences further. Lastly, the coding system was
linked to knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences expressed in the two research
questions and the study's conceptual framework.
47
Interview Data Credibility and Trustworthiness
Connelly (2016) defines trustworthiness as the rigor of research or the degree of
confidence put into the data and methods used in the study. Establishing the trustworthiness and
credibility of the study’s results is the benchmark of high-quality research. As Maxwell (2013)
explained, in order for a researcher to maintain their credibility in the field and their research,
they must resist the desire to use templated language. The researcher must develop and
demonstrate basic strategies that will be utilized in the research to ensure that the researcher’s
analysis, findings, and results are, in fact, trustworthy. As Merriam and Tisdell (2015) explain,
using respondent validation and rich data sets helps ensure the research is credible and
trustworthy. In establishing these findings, the researcher reviewed peer-reviewed articles,
conducted member checking or respondent validation, established a system of detailed note-
taking, as well as a transcription of the interviews. By developing a system of taking notes and
validating those notes against the interview transcriptions, the researcher was able to verify the
data collected was credible and trustworthy.
Ethics and Role of Researcher
The purpose of this study is to understand the knowledge, motivation, and organizational
barriers the law enforcement recruiter may face as they pertain to recruiting Millennials. As such,
this study relied on contact with human participants to gather the research needed for analysis.
Human participants' need in research opens the door to a host of ethical discussions that must be
considered and addressed before implementation (Merriam & Tisdale, 2015). In preparation for
this study, the researcher considered several ethical pitfalls, including ensuring participant
anonymity, financial compensation for participants, and power balance between researcher and
participants. After considering those topics, the researcher determined that ethical concerns and
48
dilemmas can be addressed and safely navigated. The specific steps to ensure ethics are outlined
below.
The researcher made every effort to demonstrate both verbally and in writing that all
human participation was voluntary. The researcher informed each participant that they could
withdraw their consent to participate at any time. Before asking any questions, the participant
was informed that they were not obligated to answer any question they did not feel comfortable
answering and could skip questions as they so desired. The participants were also told that
identifying information collected would be confidential and not disclosed in the final research
product. Additionally, the researcher sought and obtained permission to audio and video-record
each interview, explaining that the researcher would only use the recording to ensure an accurate
final research product. As Kaiser (2009) explained, when storing and securing raw unsensitized
human research data, the data should be kept in a separate location as not to cause harm to your
participants inadvertently. Each participant was informed that the researcher would be the only
one to have access to the unsensitized data, and it would be kept separate from other research.
The researcher in the study is a 14-year veteran of California Law Enforcement. In the
context of law enforcement, the researcher has worked in various positions and assignments that
have allowed the opportunity to gain experience in several areas of the criminal justice system.
Although the researcher is a Law Enforcement Officer at a California Law Enforcement Agency,
that agency is not involved in this study. The researcher has no relationship or employment
positionality to the setting or participants. Additionally, the researcher submitted a detailed plan
on the data collection process used to the University of Southern California's Institutional
Review Board (IRB) and obtained approval based on what would be collected in order to uphold
human subject research ethics.
49
Chapter Four: Results and Findings
This chapter introduces and explains the results and findings pertaining to the research
questions and the assumed knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences related to law
enforcement recruiters' ability to recruit and hire Millennials for Law Enforcement Officers'
positions. This study used a qualitative methodology approach and collected data from surveys
and interviews. The survey and interview data were collected and assessed to determine how law
enforcement recruiters’ knowledge, motivation, and organization influences affect their ability to
recruit Millennials for positions as Law Enforcement Officers'.
The researcher sent an anonymous survey to 50 (25 northern and 25 southern California)
law enforcement recruiters. The survey's final question directed the participants to a new survey
link and allowed them to opt-in by providing their name and contact information for an optional
60-minute one-on-one interview. This method allowed the researcher to gather participants for
the interview processes while maintaining the survey responses' anonymity.
In determining a need versus an asset, the researcher applied the threshold of at least 11
participants reporting high levels of knowledge, motivation or positive experiences of their
organization as an asset. In interviews, the researcher applied the threshold of at least four
participants reporting high levels of knowledge, motivation or positive experiences of their
organization as an asset.
Participating Stakeholders
The participants in this study all worked in law enforcement recruitment. Some
participants worked full-time as law enforcement recruiters, while others worked part-time or as
collateral duty assignments. The researcher surveyed, interviewed, and collected data from
participants working on day-to-day recruitment issues in the marketing and recruitment strategy
50
space and recruiters working in police administration setting recruiting goals and policies. To
ensure all participating stakeholders' confidentiality, pseudonyms were assigned to all recruiters
and their law enforcement agencies.
Survey Participants
Of the 50 surveys disturbed, 14 (28%) were completed and returned. Of the 14 survey
participants, 11 (79%) indicated that they have a law enforcement recruiter position; however,
only five (36%) participants indicated they had a full-time recruiter position. This data
demonstrates that most participant organizations have law enforcement recruiting positions;
however, it is in a collateral duty capacity. In the context of this study, the term collateral or
collateral duty is used to explain that a law enforcement recruiter has a primary assignment
outside of recruiting new personnel, and recruiting is an additional assignment or collateral duty.
As demonstrated in Table 5, the researcher discovered that of the five full-time recruiter
positions, three positions were at law enforcement agencies with 1,000 or more Law
Enforcement Officers. One full-time position was at an agency with 100-399 Law Enforcement
Officers, and the fifth agency employed between 31-99 Law Enforcement Officers. This data
demonstrates that larger law enforcement agencies tend to have full-time recruiter positions of
the surveyed agencies.
51
Table 5
Survey Participants (n=14)
Law Enforcement
Agency Size
Recruiter Position Full-Time/
Collateral/ No
Designated Position
Survey Participant
Location
More than 1,500 Law
Enforcement Officers
Yes Full time Southern California
More than 1,500 Law
Enforcement Officers
Yes Full time Southern California
1,000-1,500 Law
Enforcement Officers
Yes Full time Northern California
100-399 Law
Enforcement Officers
Yes Full time Southern California
100-399 Law
Enforcement Officers
Yes Collateral Southern California
100-399 Law
Enforcement Officers
Yes Collateral Northern California
100-399 Law
Enforcement Officers
Yes Collateral Southern California
100-399 Law
Enforcement Officers
No No Designated
Position
Northern California
31-99 Law Enforcement
Officers
Yes Full time Southern California
31-99 Law Enforcement
Officers
Yes Collateral Southern California
31-99 Law Enforcement
Officers
Yes Collateral Northern California
31-99 Law Enforcement
Officers
Yes Collateral Northern California
31-99 Law Enforcement
Officers
No No Designated
Position
Southern California
31-99 Law Enforcement
Officers
No No Designated
Position
Southern California
Interview Participants
Of the 14 participants who completed the survey, seven indicated they were willing to
participate in a one-on-one interview. Via email, all seven were invited to participate; however,
only five responded to the invitation and completed the interview. Of the five participants
interviewed, three (60%) had a full-time recruiter position, all of whom were within agencies
52
with 100 or more Law Enforcement Officers. Table 6 identifies interview participants by the law
enforcement agency employing the recruiter, the recruiter’s position within the recruitment team,
the agency's size, and whether the position is a full-time or collateral duty.
Table 6
Interview Participants (n=5)
Name
(Pseudonym)
Law
Enforcement
Agency
(Pseudonym)
Recruiter Position
Agency Size
(Number of Law
Enforcement
Officers)
Full time/
Collateral
Chief Emmett
Brown
Twin Pines
Police
Department
Management/Recruiter 31-99 Collateral
Jennifer
Packer
Pohatchee
Police
Department
Marketing Strategist
Recruiter
More than 1,501 Full time
Lieutenant
Chad Lyon
Fox View Police
Department
Management/Recruiter 31-99 Collateral
Sergeant
Goldie Wilson
Lone Pine Police
Department
Recruiter 100-399 Full time
Sergeant
James
Strickland
Hill Valley
Police
Department
Recruiter More than 1,501 Full time
53
What Are Law Enforcement Recruiters' Knowledge and Motivation Related to Effectively
Recruiting and Hiring Millennials for The Position of Law Enforcement Officer?
In this section, the knowledge and motivation results and findings will be described in
detail related to recruiting and hiring Millennials as Law Enforcement Officers. Law
enforcement recruiters were interviewed and surveyed to determine their level of procedural and
conceptual knowledge regarding how to apply strategies to hire Millennials for carriers as Law
Enforcement Officers.
Recruiters' Recruitment Focus is Not Specific to Recruiting Millennials
Survey participants were asked to indicate whether their agency had a law enforcement
recruitment program. As Table 7 demonstrates, 12 (87.71%) of respondents replied that their
Agency has a law enforcement recruitment program.
Table 7
Survey Question 1: Does your Agency have a law enforcement recruitment program? (n=14)
Percentage Frequency
Yes 87.71% 12
No 14.28% 2
54
Having a large majority of participants indicating their law enforcement agency had a
recruitment program, the data was compared with survey question 12, where recruiters were
asked if their law enforcement agency was actively recruiting for Law Enforcement Officers.
The researcher compared the data to ensure that recruiters responding to the survey were active
in recruiting candidates for Law Enforcement Officer positions. Participants were asked to
indicate their agreement on a five-point Likert-type scale from “strongly agree” to “strongly
disagree” with the statement. As Table 8 indicates, 10 (78.54%) of the survey respondents
indicated their recruitment unit was actively recruiting Law Enforcement Officers. In
comparison, only two (14.28%) said their recruitment unit was not actively recruiting police
officers.
Table 8
Responses for Survey Question 12: My Recruitment Unit is Active in Trying to Recruit Police
Officers (n=14)
Percentage Frequency
Strongly Agree 64.26% 9
Somewhat agree 7.14% 1
Neither agree nor disagree 14.28% 2
Somewhat disagree 7.14% 1
Strongly Disagree 7.14% 1
55
The data indicated that 87.71% of law enforcement agencies had a law enforcement
recruiting program and that 78.54% of the survey respondents indicated their recruitment unit
was actively recruiting police officers. After learning recruiters were actively recruiting, the
researcher spoke with the interview participants to determine if they possessed the conceptual
knowledge regarding who made up the largest group of people in the employment pool.
During participant interviews, law enforcement recruiters were asked if they knew who
the largest group of people in the employment pool were. Of the five participants, two answered
that Millennials were the largest group. The other three participants gave answers, such as white
males, lateral police officers, and one indicated they did not know. With three (60%) participants
not communicating that Millennials make up the largest sector of the employment pool, it was
not surprising to learn that Millennials were not specifically targeted, in an effort to hire, for Law
Enforcement Officer positions. Survey question 11asked participants whether they specifically
targeted Millennials and to explain why or why not. As indicated in Table 9, 12 (85.68%) of 14
respondents indicated they did not target Millennials to hire.
Table 9
Survey Question 11: Do You Specifically Target, in an Effort to Hire, Millennials? Why or Why
Not (n=14)
Percentage Frequency
Yes 14.28% 2
No 85.68% 12
56
Based on the results and findings, law enforcement agencies sampled in this study are
actively recruiting Law Enforcement Officers, and by virtue of Millennials being the largest
group of available workers in the employment pool, they are unknowingly and potentially
ineffectively recruiting Millennials. Interviewee Sergeant James Strickland, who oversees the
Hill Valley Police Department recruitment unit, said his unit does not make a conscious effort to
target Millennials. “Although we have high success in recruiting and hiring Millennials,” said
Sergeant Strickland. He explained the Hill Valley Police Department hires and sends between 30
and 40 recruits to the police academy every four months, whose average age is 27 years old,
which is a Millennial.
Interviewee Sergeant Goldie Wilson, who oversees the Lone Pine Police Department
recruitment unit, said they also did not specifically recruit Millennials. However, many of the
people they hire and send to the academy are in their mid to late twenties. As Dimock (2019)
explained, a person is considered a Millennial if born between 1981 and 1996. Without fully
understanding who they are recruiting and understanding any potential distinct features of this
generation, recruiters may be at a distinct disadvantage when developing recruitment strategies.
Recruiters' General Recruitment Strategies
This section will review the law enforcement recruiters’ knowledge of general
recruitment strategies pertaining to their law enforcement agency. Surveys and interviews were
conducted to identify how recruiters employ those strategies and how those strategies have
changed during the COVID-19 health crisis. Recruiters were also asked if they had input in
setting recruitment goals to further identify the recruiters’ knowledge surrounding recruitment
strategy employment.
57
Sergeant Wilson explained that before the COVID-19 health crisis, the unit would recruit
“pretty heavily at college campuses, local job fairs, and military bases,” however:
99% of our in-person recruiting has been canceled. So, we have really done a shift into
social media, and I guess you could say advertising our department. You know we
advertise our testing process because that can be intimidating to get people more
comfortable with the process.
Sergeant Wilson explained the recruitment unit has now become more engaged with
potential candidates before they officially apply. The unit hosts monthly information sessions
where potential candidates can speak directly with recruiters and attend weekly physical training
sessions, “since the physical fitness entry exam is the biggest hurdle for many applicants,” said
Sergeant Wilson. Sergeant Wilson also explained that before the COVID-19 health crisis, they
did not rely on social media or other online platforms as heavily as they do today, which has
provided obstacles in quickly pivoting from in-person to virtual recruiting.
Interviewee Jennifer Packer, a recruiter and marking strategist at the Pohatchee Police
Department, explained the Pohatchee Police Department has an aggressive strategy to recruit
Millennials. Jennifer explained the recruitment strategy they use is a strategy designed around
having constant contact with candidates, “we make them feel like they are part of the family,
even during the application phase.” A typical day in the life of a Pohatchee Police Department
recruiter (working on connecting with Millennials) involves replying to emails and text messages
from potential applicants. “Pohatchee Police Department is very active in sharing ways for
potential applicants to speak directly with recruiters through email, website chat, and text
messages,” said Jennifer. In the afternoons, Jennifer spends time creating or editing social media
58
and website content. Pohatchee Police Department recruitment unit is trying to be as accessible
as possible to build relationships with Millennials to attract more candidates.
Interviewee Chief Brown explained that motivating Millennials to consider law
enforcement is not much different from motivating previous generations to apply. Millennials
want a positive organizational culture, competitive salary and benefits, and exciting work. Chief
Brown compared being a law enforcement recruiter for his agency to “being a recruiter for the
National Football League.” Chief Brown said that when he was forming the Twin Pines Police
Department, he would hold online recruitment events where potential candidates could directly
ask him questions. Some events had “300 people there just asking questions about the
department,” Chief Brown said.
Sergeant Strickland explained the Hill Valley Police Department's recruitment strategy is
to advertise as much as possible in targeted areas and attend job fairs and college hiring events.
Sergeant Strickland explained they target areas such as “Military bases and colleges” to find the
people “we believe would be a good fit for our department.” Sergeant Strickland said, “military
bases in southern California are a great place to find people that are in good shape, have a clean
criminal history, and are looking to start a new career; it is a no-brainer for us.”
Interviewee Lieutenant Chad Lyons of the Fox View Police Department explained they
“don’t have a set-in-stone recruitment strategy” because they are not continually recruiting Law
Enforcement Officers. When they do recruit, the strategy is to post the job announcement on the
City’s Human Resource webpage, post an announcement on the City and agency’s social media
pages and depend on current “employee word of mouth.” In the past, they have gone to local
career fairs and attended hiring days at police academies in the surrounding area to recruit
candidates.
59
All interview participants reported that before COVID-19, they had used social media to
post their agency's job openings. However, the post was usually only on the agency’s official
social media pages. Of the interview participants, only the Pohatchee Police Department and the
Hill Valley Police Department had dedicated recruiting social media pages. Jennifer explained
that official city and agency social media pages have different missions than recruiting pages;
they “are less likely to allow spontaneous short recruitment type videos to be posted.”
Developing a recruitment goal is also crucial in establishing a recruitment strategy,
determining how to allocate resources, deciding what type of candidate to seek out, and
identifying areas to invest in recruitment efforts (Breaugh, 2016). In survey question 17,
participants were asked to indicate on a seven-point Likert-type scale from “strongly agree” to
“strongly disagree” whether they had input in setting recruitment goals. As Table 10
demonstrates, 11 (78.56%) of the survey respondents indicated they have input in setting
recruitment goals. However, two (14.28%) said they did not “agree” they had input in setting
recruitment goals, and one (7.14%) neither “agreed” nor “disagreed” with the statement.
Table 10
Responses for Survey Question 17: I Have Input in Setting Recruitment Goals (n=14)
Percentage Frequency
Strongly agree 35.71% 5
Agree 35.71% 5
Somewhat agree 7.14% 1
Neither agree nor disagree 7.14% 1
Somewhat disagree 7.14% 1
Disagree 0% 0
Strongly Disagree 7.14% 1
60
In interviewing the participants, the researcher sought to understand whether the
recruiters had input in setting recruitment goals and understand how and why recruitment goals
are established. Lieutenant Lyons explained that he has direct input into how and why
recruitment goals are set, as Lieutenant Lyons oversees the recruitment unit. Lieutenant Lyons
explained that recruitment goals are set based on a projection of the agency’s future needs at the
one-year, five-year, and 10-year mark. Currently, the Fox View Police Department has four
vacant police officer positions with a 10-year projection of expanding the agency from 35 to 90
Law Enforcement Officers. When asked who they are targeting to fill those openings, Lieutenant
Lyons said they were targeting lateral officers, meaning individuals who are already Law
Enforcement Officers at other California Law Enforcement Agencies. When referring to lateral
officers, it is not meant to imply that the officer is or is not in the Millennial category. A lateral
police officer is a category of police officer law enforcement agencies often seek to hire because
of the upfront cost savings related to training. Lieutenant Lyons said they “recruit and hire the
best candidate our resources allow, and in most cases, it is a lateral police officer.”
Sergeant Wilson, who is directly involved in setting recruitment goals and priorities,
explained his recruitment unit attempts to hire the best possible candidates they can attract.
Sergeant Wilson expressed that his agency does not target any specific demographic for
recruitment efforts. However, due to the current COVID-19 health crisis, he stated that they have
“moved to a larger online presence which will inevitably attract Millennials.”
Chief Brown explained that he and his executive team are responsible for establishing all
recruitment goals and strategies. Chief Brown said recruitment goals change from year to year
based on budget constraints, but “The only constant is the need for people.” When asked if he
recruits for a specific demographic, meaning Millennials, Chief Brown said he does not. He
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stated that he recruits and hires based on the applicant meeting the agency’s hiring standards and
fitting into the organizational culture. Organizational culture is a driver in determining
recruitment strategies. “We need people that are great public servants,” Chief Brown said.
While coding the survey data, it became apparent that most law enforcement agencies
have guidelines about how to recruit but do not provide their recruiters with specific strategies
about how to approach recruitment. The lack of strategy manuals or policy and procedure
documents became evident when interview participants were asked if they had any recruiting
documents they could share with the researcher. Four of the interview participants stated their
agencies did not possess such documents. One participant stated the agency did have documents;
however, the participant could not share them as they are confidential due to the proprietary
nature of hiring standards and practices.
Motivation Results
In determining a recruiter’s efficacy and utility value for recruiting Millennials for a
career as a Law Enforcement Officer, recruiters were provided with a series of questions. Each
participant provided specific answers to their efficacy level as if related to the question. This
section will explain in detail the results and findings of those questions.
Recruiters’ High Level of Efficacy for Being Able to Fill All Available Law Enforcement
Officer Positions
In survey question 19, recruiters were asked if they were confident in their ability to fill
all available Law Enforcement Officer positions within their agency with Millennials.
Participants were asked to indicate their agreement level on a seven-point Likert-type scale from
“strongly agree” to “strongly disagree.” As Table 11 indicates, nine (64.29%) survey respondents
indicated they felt confident in their ability to fill all available Law Enforcement Officer
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positions within their agencies with Millennials. In comparison, only four (28.57%) said they
were not confident in their ability, and one (7.14%) neither “agreed” nor “disagreed.”.
Table 11
Responses for Survey Question 19: I Am Confident in My Ability to Fill All Available Law
Enforcement Officer Positions, With Millennials, in My Agency (n=14)
Percentage Frequency
Strongly agree 7.14% 1
Agree 28.57% 4
Somewhat agree 28.57% 4
Neither agree nor disagree 7.14% 1
Somewhat disagree 7.14% 1
Disagree 21.42% 3
Strongly Disagree 0% 0
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Recruiters’ Lack of Value for Specific Recruitment Efforts Targeted Towards Millennials
Although 10 (71.43%) of all survey respondents indicated they perceive value in specific
recruitment efforts targeted towards Millennials, those interviewed confided that they do not
specifically target Millennials for recruitment. During the survey, participants were asked to
indicate their agreement level on a seven-point Likert-type scale from “strongly agree” to
“strongly disagree,” with the statement that they perceived value in specific recruitment efforts
targeted towards Millennials. As Table 12 demonstrates, 10 (71.43%) survey respondents
indicated they perceived value in specific recruitment efforts targeted towards Millennials. In
comparison, only one (7.14%) stated they did not perceive value, and three (21.43%) neither
“agreed” nor “disagreed.”
Table 12
Responses for Survey Question 16: I Perceive Value in Specific Recruitment Efforts Targeted
Towards Millennials (n=14)
Percentage Frequency
Strongly agree 21.43% 3
Agree 21.43% 3
Somewhat agree 28.57% 4
Neither agree nor disagree 21.43% 3
Somewhat disagree 0.00% 0
Disagree 0.00% 0
Strongly disagree 7.14% 1
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When Lieutenant Lyons was asked what his agency’s views were, if any, on specifically
hiring millennials, he said, “we do not.” He further clarified,
I mean, I do not know that we have any formalized views. But I can tell you that we talk
about these things anecdotally, and we have had mixed success. We really focus on the
most qualified over any other criteria.
Sergeant Wilson answered in a similar fashion stating, “It's more that we are focused on
finding the right person instead of the right generation.” During the interview with Sergeant
Strickland, the researcher learned Hill Valley Police Department typically recruits from three
social demographics. Sergeant Strickland explained,
I don't think we target like age-wise; I would say that's not something that we specifically
go after, you know. I’ll give you our typical three demos, college kids, military, and
athletes; those could be college athletes, professional athletes, or just your daily cross-
fitters.
A review of the survey data indicated many recruiters view the efforts to target
Millennials as a limiter to their recruiting efforts. Recruiters reported that recruiting Millennials
narrows the hiring pool and lessens the potential to find the best candidate. When asked if it was
important to hire Millennials, Lieutenant Lyons explained, “it’s not because Fox View Police
Department is focused on recruiting and hiring the best applicant we can find, whether it is a
Millennial, Gen X, or any other generation.” Sergeant Wilson similarly indicated it was not
important to the Lone Pine Police Department to recruit Millennials specifically. He further
explained that the reasoning was more complicated than a simple “no,” “It's more that we are
focused on finding the right person than the right generation,” said Sergeant Wilson. Chief
Brown said he is most concerned with the applicant’s qualifications over other traits. However,
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Jennifer Packard explained that for her agency, specifically targeting Millennials is important.
“Millennials have a desire to change and move the agency forward,” Jennifer said. She believed
that a younger cohort of Law Enforcement Officers would better reflect the community and
potentially be a driver of positive change in the community and law enforcement. Jennifer also
indicated that recruiting Millennials is also a way to reduce the age of the workforce and obtain
all the benefits that a younger workforce brings in a physically demanding occupation. She
pointed out that a younger workforce is less likely to have the higher injury rates an older law
enforcement agency faces, resulting in lower employment cost. Table 13 demonstrates eight
survey participants answered why they do or do not specifically target, to hire, Millennials.
Table 13
Survey Question 11: Reasons Why Recruiters Do or Do Not Specifically Target Millennials, in
an Effort to Hire (n=8)
Do or Do Not Reason
Do “To ensure diversity and longevity on the team.”
Do not “Seek most qualified.”
Do not “Limits the hiring pool.”
Do not “We target all applicants and look for the most qualified.”
Do not “We try to hire the most qualified candidates we can afford.”
Do not “Not specifically targeted, but would be accepted if they applied.”
Do not “We specifically target all candidates that possess our department's four core
values: integrity, respect, accountability, and community service.”
Do not “We do not have an age cap in hiring. As long as they have life experience,
we don’t care about the age.”
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Survey participants were asked to indicate their agreement level on a five-point Likert-
type scale from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree” with survey question 15; it is important
that my agency recruit Millennials. As demonstrated in Table 14, eight (57.12%) of survey
respondents indicated they “agreed” it was important for their agency to recruit Millennials, four
(28.56%) had no opinion, and two (4.28%) “disagreed” with the statement.
Table 14
Responses for Survey Question 15: It Is Important for My Agency to Recruit Millennials (n=14)
Percentage Frequency
Strongly agree 14.28% 2
Agree 42.84% 6
Neither agree nor disagree 28.56% 4
Disagree 7.14% 1
Strongly Disagree 7.14% 1
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After conducting interviews with five law enforcement recruiters, a common theme arose
concerning the value they perceive in recruiting Millennials. Four of the law enforcement
recruiters interviewed reported not personally valuing specific recruitment efforts targeted
towards Millennials, even though Millennials are the largest pool of prospective candidates in the
labor market. Recruiters were precise in their answers: they generally communicated that it was
not that Millennials were not worth the recruiting efforts but rather the perceived return on
investment was not worth the effort expressed. Chief Brown explained, “Millennials have a
reputation of chasing what they perceive to be better employment opportunities more frequently
than non-Millennials.” Lieutenant Lyons said, “we have not had much luck in recruiting and
retaining Millennials as academy candidates.” With limited recruiting resources, recruiters
communicated a belief that recruitment efforts were better spent recruiting the candidates they
believed were best-qualified rather than merely focusing on a given sector of the employment
market.
In What Way Does the Law Enforcement Agency Support or Hinder Recruiters' Capacity
to Effectively Recruit Millennials?
This study also sought to explore how the organizational influences relate to effectively
recruiting Millennials. The organizational influences explored included organizations
communicating the importance of recruiting Millennials, clearly communicating ideal
candidates' characteristics, and providing dedicated resources to law enforcement recruiters.
Each cultural setting was explored using data gathered from surveys and one-on-one interviews.
Based on this study’s research, Law enforcement organizations potentially provide law
enforcement recruiters with confusing messages about the type of candidate management desires
to hire versus the candidate law enforcement recruiters are producing. Based on the research in
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this study, 11 (78.54%) of survey respondents indicated they have input in setting recruitment
goals, and eight (57.12%) of the participants indicated it is important for their agency to recruit
Millennials; however, 12 (85.68%) of law enforcement recruiters surveyed indicated they do not
specifically recruit Millennials.
Organizational Mixed Messages Regarding Recruiting Millennials
Survey question 13 asked recruiters if their organization communicated the importance of
specifically recruiting Millennials for Law Enforcement Office positions. Participants were
asked to indicate their agreement level on a five-point Likert-type scale from “strongly agree” to
“strongly disagree.” As indicated in Table 15, three (21.42%) survey respondents indicated their
agency had clearly communicated to them the importance of specifically recruiting Millennials
for Law Enforcement Officer positions. Five (35.70%) had no opinion and six (42.84%)
“disagreed” with the statement.
Table 15
Responses for Survey Question 13: My Organization Has Clearly Communicated to Me the
Importance of Specifically Recruiting Millennials for the Position of Law Enforcement Officer
(n=14)
Percentage Frequency
Strongly agree 7.14% 1
Agree 14.28% 2
Neither agree nor disagree 35.70% 5
Disagree 28.56% 4
Strongly disagree 14.28% 2
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Although six (42.84%) of survey respondents disagreed that their agency had clearly
communicated the importance of specifically recruiting Millennials for Law Enforcement Officer
positions, survey question 15 revealed that eight (57.12%) of the respondents indicated it is
important for their agency to recruit Millennials. Given the mixed messages, it is understandable
how recruiters could misconstrue what is being asked of them, especially given that 11 (78.54%)
of the respondents indicated they have input on setting the recruitment goals. Less than half
(42.84%) of recruiters surveyed indicated their agency has clearly communicated to them it was
important to recruit Millennials; however, 57.12% of recruiters surveyed indicated it was
important for their agency to recruit Millennials. This data could be interpreted to indicate that
law enforcement recruiters do not clearly understand the message about who the agency wants to
be recruited.
When Lieutenant Lyon was asked what group of people the Fox View Police Department
was actively targeting for recruitment, he explained they were seeking lateral police officers. He
explained, “laterals are cheaper hire too because it takes less training time make them a solo
officer.” Lieutenant Lyon further explained that “departments higher the best candidates they can
get with the resources they have.” Based on this study’s data, recruiting Millennials may be
important on paper; however, many law enforcement agencies' foci are recruiting and filling the
Law Enforcement Officer position with qualified candidates.
Organizational Ambiguity Toward Clearly Identifying an Ideal Candidate
Law enforcement recruiting is a subjective task requiring law enforcement recruiters to
judge a candidate based on predetermined criteria (Harrington, 2018). Survey question 14 sought
to understand if law enforcement organizations had clearly identified the ideal candidate to their
recruiters. Participants were asked to indicate their agreement level on a five-point Likert-type
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scale from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree.” As Table 16 presents, 12 (85.68%) survey
respondents indicated their agency had clearly identified the ideal candidate to assist them in
targeting their recruiting efforts. In comparison, 1 (7.14%) had no opinion, and one (7.14%)
“disagreed” with the statement.
Table 16
Responses for Survey Question 14: My Organization Has Clearly Identified the Ideal Candidate
in Order to Assist Me in Targeting My Recruiting Efforts (n=14)
Percentage Frequency
Strongly agree 49.98% 7
Agree 35.70% 5
Neither agree nor disagree 7.14% 1
Disagree 0% 0
Strongly disagree 7.14% 1
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In survey question 9, the respondents were asked to identify the top three traits their
agency sought in a candidate. The typical traits associated with Millennials, such as social
awareness, tech-savvy, or adaptive to change (Zall, 2000), did not emerge as traits reported by
the survey participants. Without any typical Millennial traits identified and six (42.84%)
respondents disagreeing their agency clearly communicates the importance of specifically
recruiting Millennials; it is understandable how recruiters could become confused about whether
recruiting Millennials is a priority for the agency. Table 17 presents the top five common traits
identified by the survey respondents. Many survey respondents provided similar words such as
trustworthy and honest, which were combined into a single phase, such as honesty, for coding
purposes.
Table 17
Responses for Survey Question 15: List the Top Three Ideal Traits Your Agency Looks for in a
Law Enforcement Officer Candidate (n=14)
Percentage Frequency
Honesty 85.71% 12
Dependability 28.57% 4
Hard worker 21.42% 3
Compassion 21.42% 3
Personable 14.28% 2
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Each interview participant was also asked to describe the top three traits a candidate must
have to work at their agency. Sergeant Wilson said, “a high moral character, they have to be
selfless and be a great communicator.” Chief Brown said his three ideal traits for a Law
Enforcement Officer at his agency are “Compassion, positivity, and loyal.” Jennifer Packard said
the Pohatchee Police Department is looking for a candidate that is “Courageous, trustworthy, and
someone who has sound decision-making skills.” Jennifer also said, “I know it’s hard to measure
someone’s courageousness, but we think it is an important trait, and we use it as an evaluation
tool.”
Although 12 (85.68%) recruiters stated their organization has clearly identified the ideal
candidate to help them target their recruiting efforts, the data shows that may not be the case. Of
all the traits given during the survey and interviews, none of the traits were germane to
Millennials, the largest group of available applicants. Most of the traits were subjective, general
terms, and some such as “courageous” appear to be difficult if not impossible to measure during
the hiring process. The data revealed that typical characteristics of Millennials did not emerge. If
organizations align their ideal characteristics of a Law Enforcement Officer with Millennials'
typical characteristics, they may find many of the same characteristics, such as social awareness,
exist in both groups.
Organizational Provision of Inadequate Resources
The study also sought to establish whether recruiters obtained any job-specific training in
relation to their recruiter duties. As Table 18 indicates, survey question eight asked law
enforcement recruiters if they attended any law enforcement recruiter job training. Ten (71.43%)
respondents indicated they had not attended any training about being a law enforcement
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recruiter. “In law enforcement recruiting, success or failure is measured by recruiting the talent
your department is expecting to hire,” said Chief Brown.
Table 18
Survey Question 8: Have You Attended Training on How to Be a Law Enforcement Recruiter?
(n=14)
Percentage Frequency
Yes 28.57% 4
No 71.43% 10
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When Chief Brown was asked about recruitment training, he explained that California
Police Officers Standard and Training (POST) does not offer a stand-alone recruiter training
course, nor is the information combined with other courses offered by POST. Jennifer Packard
explained that her unit's only training was online, focused on video editing and developing social
media content. Jennifer said instead of receiving training, ‘the department hires an outside
consultant firm to outline what our recruiting goals should be and then develops a recruiting
strategy for use to follow.”
When Sergeant Strickland was asked what type of law enforcement recruiter training, he
has attended, he replied, “Zero. So, there is none, and I have never been to a recruiter-focused
training.” Sergeant Strickland further explained that the Hill Valley Police Department recruiting
unit had attended social media training offered by the Los Angeles Police Department. However,
the training was not geared towards specifically recruiting; it was a basic social media training
focused on managing law enforcement social media pages. Sergeant Strickland said the most
significant gap in law enforcement recruiter training is “recruiter presentation skills or anything
like that.” “When recruiters struggle with providing effective presentations, they miss key points
of information, we miss opportunities to connect with protentional applicants,” said Jennifer
Packard.
During the interview, each participant was asked if they had a standard recruitment pitch
that everyone on the team uses. Each recruiter responded negatively; however, all explained they
have their own pitch that they give at recruiting presentations. Sergeant Strickland said that each
unit member gives their own unique pitch, and the unit has not developed a standardized pitch.
Chief Brown said he tries to hit on several critical topics during each of his recruitment
presentations but does not have a concrete pitch that he gives at presentations.
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An emerging theme from this study’s data is that recruiters appear to be meeting
recruiting goals; however, unrealized potential and increased success could be realized with
public speaking and sales skills training. A larger, more complex problem that recruiters face is a
lack of recruitment resources, specifically money. In survey question 7, respondents were asked
if their agency specifically budgeted for recruitment. As Table 19 demonstrates, over half, eight
(57.14%) respondents indicated that law enforcement recruitment was not a budgeted item
within their agency.
Table 19
Survey Question 16: Is Law Enforcement Recruiting a Specifically Budgeted Item Within Your
Agency? (n=14)
Percentage Frequency
Yes 42.86% 6
No 57.14% 8
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When asked what resources Jennifer Packard believed she needed to be successful in
reaching her recruitment goals, she said, “Money, money's huge, money comes first.” Jennifer
explained that having “a knowledgeable team and a management that understands and supports
the goal is also essential, but money is a priority to fund recruitment activities.” Chief Brown
said, “I need money,” indicating that recruiting efforts become exponentially harder without
access to recruiting funds.
Sergeant Strickland said he needs money “because career fairs cost money.” Sergeant
Strickland explained that a local community college career fair might only charge his agency
$15.00 for space rental fee. However, California State Universities charge between $400.00 and
$500.00 for space rental fees. He said, “we are stuck paying the fees because the local university
is our biggest feeder college, and we can’t miss the opportunity to get in front of those students.”
Summary
Law Enforcement recruits are assigned to recruit candidates they believe will be
successful in the application processes, be a good fit into the agency’s culture, and meet the
minimum standards established by their agencies. As the study’s data present, recruiters
communicated a level of self-efficacy that they can fill all available Law Enforcement Officer
positions within their agency with Millennials. However, most recruiters curbed their efficacy
with the caveat that they would fill the positions with the most qualified candidate over any other
trait, such as a Millennial. The data suggest recruiters are recruiting Millennials as a byproduct of
recruiting for their agency in general. However, they did not communicate the value in
specifically recruiting the employment pool's largest available sector.
During interviews with recruiters, the researcher gathered that recruiting is not a
continual process for every law enforcement agency, and each agency addresses its
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recruiting needs differently. For larger agencies such as the Pohatchee Police
Department, recruiting Law Enforcement Officers is a continuous process because of
larger attrition rates. Recruiting for large agencies involves many candidates and filling
hundreds of positions a year, as in the Hill Valley Police Department. In smaller
agencies, such as Fox View Police Department, recruiting is a function that does not play
a role in the agency’s daily business.
As the study’s data present, recruiters are expected to accomplish a job in which they
receive no formalized job-specific training and little to no recruiting-related training, such as
sales, public speaking, or presentation skills. Furthermore, organizations lack formal policies and
producers indicating who they are seeking to hire, which further exacerbates the recruiters’
success. Organizations lack dedicated resources for recruiting at a time when law enforcement
recruiting is shifting, due to the COVID-19 health crisis, from in-person to technology-driven
virtual presentations. As demonstrated in the study’s interview data, recruiters are developing
new strategies to reach prospective candidates and complete the hiring process while navigating
social distancing and other pandemic obstacles.
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Chapter Five: Recommendations and Discussion
Chapter Five will discuss this study’s findings and results related to law enforcement
recruiters' ability to effectively recruit and hire Millennials for Law Enforcement Officer
positions in the context of existing research related to this topic. Additionally, this chapter will
offer integrated recommendations of the findings and results. Specifically, the chapter will lay
out recommendations for increasing the law enforcement recruiters’ understanding and value for
recruiting millennial candidates, developing law enforcement recruiter-specific skills, and
developing comprehensive law enforcement recruitment-specific online presence. Lastly, this
chapter will explain the study's limitations and delimitations and provide future research
recommendations into recruiting Millennials for Law Enforcement Officer positions.
Discussion of Findings and Results
In 2019, Millennials became the largest generation of available workers in the United
States workforce at just over 72.1 million (Fry, 2020). Currently, as Millennials are the largest
group of available workers in the employment market, failure to consider Millennials’
employment needs and desires further limits law enforcement agencies' ability to fill all available
positions. As Pohl’s (2018) research suggests, recruiters must understand why Millennial
candidates apply for employment with an organization.
During this study, the researcher did not locate any research indicating Millennials were
only concerned with salary when determining employment options; in fact, the research
demonstrated the opposite. As the National Association of Colleges and Employers (2011)
identified Millennials identified having the ability to improve their community as a high priority
when seeking employment. Additionally, the same study revealed that the Millennial generation
is service-oriented and willing to work in community service positions or social responsibility
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rather than highly paid win at all cost types. This is a positive revelation for law enforcement as
law enforcement's nature is community service-connected. Furthermore, law enforcement often
struggles when competing with the private sector salary capabilities, as suggested by the United
States Bureau of Labor Statistics (2018) employment study and DePietro (2020) research.
Additionally, with high unemployment, such as the current 6.3 percent unemployment rate
(United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2021), government revenue decreases, offering further
recruitment challenges.
As Ehrhart et al. (2012) research demonstrated, the organization's value to an employee
can be more critical to the candidate than salary. Long's (2019) research suggested this fact when
researching why the United States Army was missing their recruitment goals in 2018, for the first
time since 2005. Additionally, Long’s (2019) research indicated the critical reason the Army
failed to meet recruiting goals was that it unsuccessfully expressed the necessity of the
organization to candidates. To value the prospective Millennial candidate, recruiters must
understand what is essential to the candidate and identify the value the preceptive candidate will
have within the organization. Once the candidate's value is established, law enforcement
recruiters need to connect and communicate with prospective applicants and candidates as they
start and move through the process.
As this study discovered, law enforcement agencies’ recruitment ability was negatively
impacted by COVID-19. The results from this study showed an indication the lack of a robust
online footprint contributed to recruiters' perceived struggles when specifically focused on
communicating and recruiting prospective candidates. As Hipps’ (2017) research indicated,
spending money focused on internet advertising campaigns leads to increased job opening
awareness amongst Millennials. Ninety percent of people ages 18 to 29 use social media and the
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internet to find information about job opportunities (Hipps, 2017). As Hipps’ (2017) research
suggested, failing to have an online presence decreases the probability that law enforcement
recruiters will recruit younger generations, such as Millennials. The workforce within a law
enforcement agency will continue to age. Zall’s (2000) research indicated the average cost-per-
hire using traditional advertising was about $3,295, while the average cost-per-hire for internet
advertising was approximately $377. Online advertisements effectively reach prospective
candidates and are cost-effective compared to traditional television or radio advertising.
Prospective candidates can also share online advertisements, further increasing exposure at no
additional cost. Law enforcement recruiters may increase their online presence and connect with
a more diverse group of candidates without using vast resources; however, their recruiting-
specific skills are diminished due to limited training opportunities. A lack of online skills can
present significant barriers to effective recruitment for law enforcement recruiters.
According to Thomas and Ray's (2000) research, an effective way to determine an
organization's effectiveness is to evaluate its ability to recruit, hire, and develop talented
employees. According to interviewees, the current study’s findings revealed there were no
formal law enforcement recruiter training courses either approved by the California Peace
Officer Standards and Training or known to be offered by private sector companies (Commission
on Peace Officer Standard and Training, 2020). A law enforcement recruiter's job is a profession
in and of itself and requires unique skills that are not learned during the police academy
(Commission on Peace Officer Standard and Training, 2020). Without formal recruitment
training, law enforcement recruiters are likely to face significant barriers to effective recruiting.
The United States Army (2019) identified several key areas of expertise they expect
recruiters to master in the United States Army Recruitment Manual, including the learned
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networking skill. United States Army (2019) defined networking as a skill to gain access to the
prospective candidates and Key Leader Engagements. Key Leader identification and engagement
includes connecting with people who have access to prospective applicants, such as university
professors, fitness instructors, and others who would interact with ideal candidates. Without
formalized law enforcement recruitment training, expectations and accountability also become
unstandardized and misguided (Bregman, 2016; Burton & Raedeke, 2008). Law enforcement
recruiters should be provided with clear and concise expectations to help obtain recruitment
goals and further the recruitment mission.
The data collected in this study indicate that law enforcement recruiters and their
agencies represented the recruitment of Millennials as important; however, in reality, the
recruiters’ actions suggest otherwise. Four of the five recruiters interview said they did not
specifically recruit Millennials for the position of Law Enforcement Officer. When employees
understand the expectation, they are accountable to the organization and further help the
organization accomplish the mission. Accountability has been defined as applying consequences
when delivered performance is not desired (Duncan, 2018). As Burke’s (2005) research
indicated, organizations cannot have accountability without expectations. As indicated by
Burke’s (2005) study, organizations should share personalized expectations and goals with each
stakeholder. Dorsey and Muller-Hanson (2017) research suggested that providing regular
performance feedback encourages stakeholders to hold themselves accountable to the
organization.
Recommendations for Practice
This study has identified three recommendations, based on the research findings and
results, that are designed to facilitate increasing law enforcement recruiting effectiveness. Law
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enforcement organizations should increase the law enforcement recruiters’ understanding and
value for recruiting millennial candidates, develop law enforcement recruitment-specific skills,
and develop comprehensive law enforcement recruitment-specific online presence. Each
recommendation is a separate key finding that emerged from the study’s research and was
determined to significantly impact the law enforcement recruiters' ability to recruit Millennials
for Law Enforcement Officer positions effectively.
Recommendation 1: Increase Law Enforcement Recruiters’ Understanding and Value for
Recruiting Millennial Candidates
This study found that law enforcement recruiters do not specifically value recruiting
Millennials, even though Millennials are the largest sector of available employees in the
employment market (Fry, 2020). Other generations, such as Generation X, are between forty and
fifty-six years old as of 2021 and are nearing the average age of 50 for Law Enforcement
retirement (Fry, 2020; Treeblod, 2018). On the other side of Millennials is Generation Z, a
generation between the ages of six and twenty-four, as of 2021 (Fry, 2020). At the time of the
study, the Millennial generation was the only realistic choice for Law Enforcement Officer
recruitment. Millennials are often thought to be less career-driven than previous generations;
however, Millennials are as driven as past generations (Stewart et al., 2017). As suggested by
Stewart et al. (2017) research, Millennials are not single-scope career-focused. Millennials tend
to endorse multiple-lens views of life that include family, community, and career. Increasing a
law enforcement recruiters’ understanding of the Millennial generation and the value recruiting
Millennial candidates may provide the law enforcement agency may assist the law enforcement
recruiter in filling all available Law Enforcement Officer positions in their agency Millennials.
In White et al.’s (2010) research, Millennials listed opportunities for career advancement,
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job security, and opportunities to help in the community as three of the top five reasons they
sought out a law enforcement career. As Polak's (2018) research indicated, Millennial law
enforcement candidates are often more educated and racially diverse than past generations. Fifty-
seven percent of all Millennials have some college education level, with 39% of Millennials
having at least a bachelor's degree (Bialik & Fry, 2020). Law enforcement recruiters must
identify ways to understand prospective candidates of this new generation and realize the value
they can bring to an organization.
Recommendation 2: Develop Law Enforcement Recruitment-Specific Skills
This study suggests law enforcement recruiters lack recruitment-specific skills’ such as
public speaking, sales, and marketing. The interview data revealed that recruiters held recruiting
presentations without a standard formalized script or pitch. This oversight is a missed
opportunity for law enforcement recruiters to position their agency as an excellent employment
option to prospective applicants. A standard recruitment pitch should be viewed as a sale pitch
(Hershey, 2005). Hershey's (2005) research indicated that sales pitches are viewed as part of a
sales department's strategic plan and not something that every salesperson can develop
independently. Though Hershey was discussing pitches in the context of selling goods and
services, recruiters are selling the benefits, opportunities, and culture of their departments.
Hershey's (2005) research suggested a compelling sales pitch should be concise, full of crucial
information, and demonstrate to the customer the value of the service or product.
The business of recruiting is inherently unique, and each recruiting activity, based on
location, types of questions asked, and the participants' demographics, will bring new challenges
for the recruiter. Clark and Estes’ (2008) training-related research offers several key insights
from which law enforcement recruiters can benefit. Clark and Estes’ (2008) research indicated
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that there are four types of solutions when knowledge and skill problems present themselves. In
the context of recruitment-specific skills such as public speaking, sales, and marketing skills, the
focus will be on training. Clark and Estes’ (2008) explained that when employees have no
specific experience or little relatable experience but the job is a routine procedure, performance
can be improved with training. In the context of recruiting, examples of tasks are communicating
with prospective candidates, hosting testing events, or physical fitness training classes. Training
allows learners to obtain a job skill that requires more training than offered by job aids, such as a
checklist, but less training than would be required for an education program, such as a certificate
course. Training involves the recruiter learning a new skill, participating in guided practice, and
then receiving feedback about the performance (Clark & Estes, 2008). Law enforcement
recruiters who received training related to public speaking could then demonstrate the learned
skill in simulation with other recruiters in order to obtain improvement feedback.
Eccles and Wigfield’s (2020) research explained that expectancy-value as a person’s level
of motivation is related to the expectation of succeeding at a particular task. If law enforcement
recruiters believe they are deficient in recruiter-specific skills, their job performance is likely to
be negatively affected. Training should aim to increase not only recruiter-specific skills but also
the recruiter’s self-efficacy. As indicated in Clark and Estes’ (2008) research into training, a
higher level of self-efficacy will translate into an increase in recruiter performance. As
Sendawula et al.’s (2018) research indicated, employee performance is directly connected to an
organization's performance and determines its success and failures.
85
Recommendation 3: Develop A Comprehensive Law Enforcement Recruitment-Specific
Online Presence
This study discovered that law enforcement recruiters lack a comprehensive law
enforcement recruiter-specific online presence. Developing a law enforcement recruiter-specific
online presence is a cost-effective way not only to reach prospective candidates but connect with
a candidate population much larger than a recruiter’s own agency's geographical location. As
Tiry et al.'s (2019) research indicated, law enforcement recruiters limit their ability to recruit to
small geographical areas without a robust online recruitment presence. Law enforcement
recruiters travel outside of their law enforcement agency's geographical area believing they are
increasing their presence; however, they are still recruiting in a local geographical area (Tiry et
al., 2019).
Whether using social media, a YouTube channel, or an interactive website, an online
presence allows the law enforcement recruiter to control the recruitment messaging in real-time.
As Melekian and Wexler (2013) demonstrated in their research, having a website with
periodically updated information is not enough for recruitment efforts. Recruiters must be
accessible via online platforms and interact with prospective candidates and share their
recruitment message to realize the benefit of an online presence (Melekian & Wexler, 2013).
Although law enforcement recruiters may be able to manage the implementation and day-to-day
oversight of a robust online recruiting presence, this would require additional non-recruiter-
related job skill training.
Integrated Recommendations
While reviewing the survey and interview data in this study, the researcher found law
enforcement recruiters identified they were deficient in law enforcement recruiter-specific skills
86
due to a lack of training. Developing a skills training program should identify what skills
recruiters use, such as public speaking, sales, and marketing, to determine best practices in
obtaining new training. Each of these skills is a learned behavior and should be learned in a
formalized setting and then demonstrated and receive feedback to ensure knowledge transfer has
occurred. This will allow the stakeholders to determine if the training effectively met the
training (Clark & Estes, 2008; Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016).
To obtain information on what drives Millennials to seek careers in law enforcement,
recruiters should survey Millennial applicants, analyze acquired data, and use those results to
understand why Millennials want to become Law Enforcement Officers. Harnessing this
information could also allow law enforcement recruiters to understand better how to target and
recruit Millennials more effectively. With a better understanding of what motivates Millennials
and how to effectively recruit Millennials, law enforcement recruiters may realize increased self-
efficacy.
Organizations and law enforcement recruiters must work together to ensure
recommendations transition from words into actions. As Clark and Estes’ (2008) research
indicated, a fully integrated performance improvement program is more effective, efficient, and
significantly more straightforward to evaluate than a non-integrated program. Clark and Estes’
(2008) research into knowledge and skills gaps describes four different solutions based on the
gap problem. The first solution, information, requires the least effort and relies on applying past
solutions to new problems. Job aids are the second solution and involve the employee relying on
items like a checklist and other self-help types of job-related literature to accomplish the task.
The next solution, training, requires the learner to learn a new task. Once the task is learned, the
learner must demonstrate the new knowledge or skill and then receive feedback. Clark and Estes’
87
(2008) identified education as the final solution for knowledge and skills gaps. Education allows
the learner to acquire conceptual, theoretical, and strategic knowledge they will use to solve new
and unexpected problems in the future. Of the solutions presented by Clark and Estes’ (2008),
training was determined to be an appropriate solution for the recruiters’ gap in knowledge and
skills. Training allows the law enforcement recruiter to learn how to develop a recruiting pitch,
deliver the pitch either in role-playing model or in an on-the-job model, demonstrating the new
skill. After demonstrating the new recruiter pitch skill, recruiters can obtain feedback from
fellow recruiters or prospective candidates.
There are several steps to implementing a new training program. Clark and Estes' (2008)
research recommends a process of design, development, and then implementation to close the
learning gap. When designing an effective training model, training should be clear and linked to
performance and organizational goals (Clark & Estes, 2008). Building a training course should
include a detailed introduction of the course and clearly defined objectives the learner will
achieve upon completing the course (Clark & Estes, 2008). Failing to include details about what
the training will cover or what the learner will learn will allow them to establish their own
learning benchmarks, which may be below the organizational standards and expectations.
Additionally, clearly establish learning objectives help assist the learner in ensuring that
knowledge transfer has occurred.
Although training can be a costly endeavor, the return on investment can be measured to
ensure the result is worth the investment. Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick's (2016) framework
suggests training should have measurable benchmarks to ensure that both stakeholders and
organizations receive the benefit. Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick's (2016) framework suggested that
training is not exempt from demonstrating how resources allocated to training are spent.
88
Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick (2016) further suggested that gathering data to determine the
training's effectiveness, knowledge transfer, and employee performance can credibly show the
organization's training program's value.
Limitations and Delimitations
This study sought to understand, in part, the knowledge law enforcement recruiters have
as it pertains to recruiting Millennials. Data was collected from human sources and triangulated
with other written documents. The limitation in research are items that can cause weaknesses in a
study and are out of the researcher’s control (Pyrczak, 2014). Creswell (1994) explained that a
known human participant limitation is memory limitations. Human participants, such as law
enforcement recruiters, may not remember vital information during an interview, limiting the
knowledge the recruiter possesses. Furthermore, research that relies on human participants, such
as interviews and surveys, for data also relies on them to self-report.
Additionally, the COVID-19 health crisis eliminated the researcher’s ability to conduct
face-to-face interviews, which reduced the regular human connection developed during an in-
person interview. Because of the health requirements established by the University of Southern
California, all of my interviewers took place remotely via Zoom. Some interviewees appeared to
be less confident with technology, which was also a distraction during the interview.
As Pyrcza (2014) explained, delimitations are choices the researcher makes that limit the
scope and define the study's boundaries. This study's delimitation is the scope in which the
research was conducted. The study is a field study, meaning it covers law enforcement across
California. A more comprehensive study would focus on each department; however, that was not
possible due to time constraints. The framework selected (Knowledge, Motivation,
Organizational influences) is also a delimitation as the framework only addresses the problem
89
from one lens instead of multiple perspectives. Furthermore, the study has a single stakeholder
group focus, law enforcement recruiters, and does not make attempts to study the entire field of
law enforcement recruiting.
Recommendations for Future Research
Although this study focused on effectively recruiting Millennials for Law Enforcement
Officer positions, further research into this topic would be appropriate. Future research into the
study of effectively recruiting Millennials for the Law Enforcement Officer positions should
include studying how the law enforcement recruiting strategy has adjusted in the post-COVID-19
pandemic recruiting environment. Before COVID-19, law enforcement recruiters relied mostly
on face-to-face recruiting strategies; however, during the COVID-19 pandemic, that strategy was
restricted and made all but obsolete. This abrupt change to the recruiting strategy negatively
affected the law enforcement recruiting model. Based on this research, law enforcement
recruiters struggled to develop new strategies to communicate and recruit candidates effectively.
Future research can also explore how law enforcement organizations can further assist
law enforcement recruiters in mastering recruiter-specific skills. Although this study focused on
recruiting the Millennial generation, Generation Y is fast approaching the law enforcement
employment age range. Lessons learned in strategies for recruiting Millennials may have some
value to law enforcement organizations when applied to recruiting Generation Y candidates.
Future research should also explore how adjusting the makeup of recruitment units can
positively impact recruitment strategies. For example, the Pohatchee Police Department
(pseudonym) was the only organization that indicated they had a non-sworn (not a Law
Enforcement Officer) on the recruitment team. The perspective the non-sworn recruitment team
member brought to recruitment was often outside the view of what the sworn recruiters
90
mentioned in this study. Although the non-sworn member may not fully understand what the
Law Enforcement Officer's duties entail, they may provide a unique perspective that can lead to
innovative recruitment practices.
Conclusion
While conducting this research, it became apparent that many law enforcement agencies
had simple guidelines about recruiting in general but do not provide their recruiters robust
strategies. The lack of strategies became evident when most interview participants explained
their agency did not robust recruitment policy documents. The lack of clearly defined strategies
further hinders the law enforcement recruiters' ability to meet their recruiting goals. The law
enforcement recruiter is tasked with completing an objective evaluated based on the prospective
applicant's success, how many applicants pass the hiring process, and enviably graduate from the
academy.
Law enforcement recruiting is a unique concept; the recruiter is not simply locating
someone to fill a vacancy within an organization. The recruiter is recruiting the person who
could be their partner in a year, the only person in the middle of a gun battle that can save their
life, or the person who will have to perform CPR on a baby. Law Enforcement recruiting is not
about filling organizational vacancies; it is about hiring ordinary people that can perform heroic
and often dangerous duties without hesitation.
91
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Appendix A:
Survey Items
You are invited to complete a brief survey as part of Liam Doyle’s doctoral study on law
enforcement recruitment of Millennial candidates for the position of Law Enforcement Officer.
The purpose of the study is to understand the current state of law enforcement recruitment efforts
in relation to hiring Millennials. Results will be aggregated and used to identify
recommendations on how to continuously improve law enforcement recruitment efforts.
The survey should take approximately 5 minutes to complete. There are no right or
wrong answers. Your honest responses will be the most helpful to the study. You may skip any
question you do not wish to answer, and you may stop the survey at any time. All responses are
anonymous. If you agree to participate in the survey, please follow this link to the survey:
Item Response options
1. Does your agency have a law enforcement
recruitment program?
Yes or No
2. Is the recruitment position a full-time position, or is it
a collateral position?
Fulltime or collateral
3. How many people are on the recruitment team? 0-5
6-10
11-15
15 or more
4. Is your agency a northern or southern Law
Enforcement Agency?
Northern
Southern
110
**Agencies north of the northern San Luis Obispo,
Kern, and San Bernardino county lines are northern**
5.Approximately how many Sworn Law Enforcement
Officers does your agency employ?
1- 30
31-99
100- 399
400-999
1,000-1,500
1,501 or more
6. How many vacant police officer positions does your
agency currently have?
0-15
16-30
31-45
46 or more
7. Is law enforcement recruiting a specifically budgeted
item within your agency?
Yes or No
8. Have you attended training on how to be an LE
recruiter?
Yes or No
9. Please list the top three ideal traits your agency looks
for in a Law Enforcement Officer Candidate.
Open-ended
10. Who sets the law enforcement recruitment goals for
your recruitment unit?
Open-ended
11. Do you specifically target, in an effort to hire,
Millennials? Why or why not?
Yes or No and then why
111
12. My recruitment unit is active in trying to recruit
police officers.
Strong Agree to Strong Disagree (Likert)
13. My organization has clearly communicated to me
the importance of specifically recruiting Millennials for
the position of Law Enforcement Officer.
Strong Agree to Strong Disagree (Likert)
14. My organization has clearly identified the ideal
candidate in order to assist me in targeting my recruiting
efforts.
Strong Agree to Strong Disagree (Likert)
15. It is important for my agency to recruit Millennials. Strong Agree to Strong Disagree (Likert)
16. I perceive value in specific recruitment efforts
targeted towards Millennials.
Strong Agree to Strong Disagree (Likert)
17. I have input in setting recruitment goals. Strong Agree to Strong Disagree (Likert)
18. I have enough resources to recruit effectively. Strong Agree to Strong Disagree (Likert)
19. I am confident in my ability to fill all available Law
Enforcement Officer positions with Millennials in my
agency.
Strong Agree to Strong Disagree (Likert)
20. My organization has adequate policies and
procedures documenting how to recruit?
Strong Agree to Strong Disagree (Likert)
112
Appendix B
Interview Items
I want to thank you for taking time out of your schedule to meet with me and agreeing to
participate in my study by answering some questions. This interview will take about an hour.
I am currently enrolled in a doctoral program at USC and am conducting a study on law
enforcement recruitment as it pertains to recruiting Millennials for the position of Law
Enforcement Officer. I am not here as an employee of this organization or to make a professional
assessment or judgment of your performance as a recruiter. I would like to emphasize that today
I am only here as a researcher collecting data for my study. The information you share with me
will be placed into my study as part of the data collection. Your name will not be disclosed to
anyone or anywhere outside the scope of this study and will be known only to me specifically for
this data collection. While I may use a direct quote from you in my study, I will not provide your
name specifically and will remove any potentially identifying information. I will gladly provide
you with a copy of my final product upon request.
Your participation is entirely voluntary. You may skip any questions you don’t want to
answer, and you may stop this interview at any time. I will record the interview to help me
capture all of your responses accurately and completely. This recording will not be shared with
anyone outside the scope of this project. If you would like me to stop recording at any point, I
will do so. The recording will be transferred to my password-protected files on a cloud file
storage account and will be deleted from the recording device immediately upon transfer. I will
be using a third party such as rev.com to transcribe the recording, and all files will be returned to
me upon finalization of the transcription. The recording and all other data will then be destroyed
after three years from the date my dissertation defense is approved. With that, do you have any
113
questions about the study before we get started? If not, please review and keep the information
sheet.
I would like your permission to begin the interview. May I also have your permission to
record this conversation? Thank you.
Interview question:
1. What is your role within the recruitment team?
2. How long have you been on the recruitment team?
3. Walk me through what a typical day in the life is for a law enforcement recruiter.
4. Is the recruitment team full-time or part-time/ collateral duty assignment for you?
5. How long are you able to stay in this assignment?
6. What types of training courses, if any, does the agency provide or send you to as it relates
to recruitment?
A) Are there other resources available to you?
7. If you have recruiting goals, can you discuss what they are and who determines those
goals?
8. What information is shared with you about whom the recruitment team should target?
9. Explain the process of setting recruitment goals.
10. What group of candidates are you working to hire now?
11. What are the agency's views on hiring Millennials?
12. Why is it important for you to hire Millennials?
13. What is the largest group of people in the employment pool right now?
14. Please describe three traits that a law enforcement candidate must have to work for your
agency.
114
15. Please explain how it is determined what recruitment events you or your team will attend
and recruit at.
16. Tell me what resources you believe you need to successfully reach your recruiting goal.
A) Do you have those resources? If not, why not?
17. What is your agency’s recruiting goals?
18. Do you have a standardized recruitment pitch? If so, what is it?
19. Do you have a recruitment manual or Standard Operating Procedures for recruiting? If so,
may I view them?
115
Appendix C
INFORMATION SHEET FOR EXEMPT RESEARCH
STUDY TITLE: Police Recruitment: Finding a Better Way to Hire Tomorrow's Finest
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Liam Doyle
FACULTY ADVISOR: Helena Seli, Ph.D.
______________________________________________________________________________
You are invited to participate in a research study. Your participation is voluntary. This
document explains information about this study. You should ask questions about anything that is
unclear to you.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this study is to understand your experiences as a law enforcement recruiter as
it pertains to recruiting Millennials. You are invited as a possible participant because you are a
law enforcement recruiter.
PARTICIPANT INVOLVEMENT
You will be asked approximately 19 questions that range from general agency
information related to recruitment practices to your personal experiences as they pertain to law
enforcement recruiting. The interview should take approximately 60 minutes of your time. Due
to the current health crisis, the interview will take place remotely, most commonly with the use
of a third-party video conference system such as Zoom.com. The interview will be audio/video
recorded; however, you can decline to be recorded and continue with your participation.
116
PAYMENT/COMPENSATION FOR PARTICIPATION
If selected to participate in the interview, you may receive a $10 Amazon gift card for
your time. You do not have to answer all the questions in order to receive the card. The card will
be sent to you after you complete the interview.
CONFIDENTIALITY
The members of the research team and the University of Southern California Institutional
Review Board (IRB) may access the data. The IRB reviews and monitors research studies to
protect the rights and welfare of research subjects. When the results of the research are published
or discussed in conferences, no identifiable information will be used.
The recording of your interview will be transferred to my password-protected files on a
cloud file storage account and will be deleted from the recording device immediately upon
transfer. I will be using a third party such as rev.com to transcribe the recording, and all files will
be returned to me upon finalization of the transcription. The recording and all other data will
then be destroyed after three years from the date my dissertation defense is approved. Your name
will not be disclosed to anyone or anywhere outside the scope of this study and will be known
only to me specifically for this data collection. I will disguise your name and the agency you
work for with a pseudonym in order to increase your confidentiality. While I may use a direct
quote from you in my study, I will not provide your name specifically and will remove any
potentially identifying information. I will gladly provide you with a copy of my final product
upon request.
INVESTIGATOR CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have any questions about this study, please contact Liam Doyle at
liamdoyl@usc.edu or my Faculty Advisor Helena Seli, Ph.D. at helena.seli@rossier.usc.edu.
117
IRB CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have any questions about your rights as a research participant, please contact the
University of Southern California Institutional Review Board at (323) 442-0114 or email
irb@usc.edu.
Abstract (if available)
Abstract
This dissertation examined law enforcement recruiters’ knowledge and motivation and their organizational barriers to recruiting Millennials for Law Enforcement Officer positions. The study used a qualitative approach by conducting surveys and semi-structured interviews with law enforcement recruiters throughout California. The study revolved around two research questions: what are the law enforcement recruiters’ knowledge and motivation related to effectively recruiting and hiring Millennials for the position of Law Enforcement Officer, and in what way does the law enforcement agency support or hinder the law enforcement recruiters’ capacity to effectively recruit Millennials? The survey results offered rich data that was further explored during participant interviews. Each interview covered topics related to the law enforcement recruiters’ knowledge and motivation specific to recruiting Millennials. The research revealed that although recruiters and law enforcement agencies believe recruiting Millennials is important, they perceive specifically recruiting Millennials as limiting the recruiters’ abilities to fill all available Law Enforcement Officer positions within their agency. As this study took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, the study explored how the restrictions on in-person contact in California affected the strategy many law enforcement recruiters used to recruit. The study revealed many recruiters and organizations did not have strategies that allowed them to communicate effectively with potential candidates and relied heavily on in-person recruiting events. The research findings and results indicated law enforcement recruiters could benefit from obtaining recruiter-specific skills training, increasing their understanding and value of Millennials, and employing a robust online presence to recruit and communicate with potential candidates.
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Asset Metadata
Creator
Doyle, Liam Patrick
(author)
Core Title
Police recruitment: finding a better way to hire tomorrow's finest
School
Rossier School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Education
Degree Program
Organizational Change and Leadership (On Line)
Publication Date
04/03/2021
Defense Date
03/25/2021
Publisher
University of Southern California
(original),
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Tag
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Language
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Electronically uploaded by the author
(provenance)
Advisor
Seli, Helena (
committee chair
), Combs, Wayne (
committee member
), Phillips, Jennifer (
committee member
)
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liam.doyle@yahoo.com,liamdoyl@usc.edu
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