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>> The Pipeline Components
Part 2 of 3
Dr. Marshall Jones
THE LAW ENFORCEMENT
LEADERSHIP PIPELINE
We continue our series on the Law Enforcement Leadership Pipeline (LELP) model of
follower and leader development. In part one of this three-part series, we reviewed the
model for how individuals develop as they progress through the pipeline. It helps us
recognize the importance of development, growth, and experience as agency members
mature and advance in their careers. We also explored how important the pipeline’s
developmental model is as it relates to retention.
In this second part, we explore critical agency components of the leadership pipeline
that include hiring and selection processes, the “fuel tanks” that impact agency culture,
and agency processes with a specific focus on field training. The interdependence
of organizational dynamics with culture and leadership can be complicated. This
series intends to o er a pragmatic model to help agencies explore, assess, develop,
and improve processes toward a stronger culture of leadership, followership, and
development.
Agency Recruiting and Hiring: The LELP Talent Input
You will notice in the LELP (Figure 1) the funnel representing potential applicants as they
become new members of the agency. You also notice a control valve immediately before
the developmental culture tank. In this model, that initial control valve is controlled by
your recruiting and selection team and processes of your organization.
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Few agencies report sustained success in recruiting new o icers. In fact, most agencies
also report challenges in recruiting professional sta in all areas of the agency. Some
of these challenges are a result of the media and political reaction of 2020 and 2021,
however law enforcement was facing challenges well before COVID and the defund the
police movements. In fact, PERF (2019) completed their study in 2018 identifying a long
list of threats to the law enforcement workforce. Critical to this shifting workforce interest
or generational value di erences, reduced military veteran application pools, and a stark
reduction in generational law enforcement professionals. This shift in attraction to law
enforcement careers has proven a significant hurdle for agencies to recruit and retain
adequate sta ing.
Law enforcement has long benefited from an applicant pool eager for a career. Recruiters
simply had to announce vacancies and wait for the applications to roll in. Agencies could
be super selective, test rarely, and rely on long lists of candidates who passed the testing
process. Those days are over. The ability to assign anyone to the recruiter function and
simply post the vacancies does not work. Policing is not alone; our comrades in the fire
service, military, and healthcare face similar challenges.
Law enforcement is a “thinking person’s” career. Departments are seeking honest, hard-
working individuals with good judgment, problem-solving abilities, critical thinking,
oral and written communication skills. These are the same skills all good employers are
seeking. Not only are we competing, with other law enforcement agencies, but we are
also in competition with the military, other first responders, and a private sector much
more resourced towards meeting the work-life balance, which is incredibly important to
the GenZ members from which we recruit. Are the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other
attributes (KSAOs) of today’s candidates in line with historical expectations but also
meet the requirements of the current job of a police o icer?
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So, what is an agency to do? First, agencies must evaluate their recruiting plan and
process. Are you doing the same thing you did five or ten years ago? If so, is it working
for you? If not, continuing to do the same old thing, hoping for a di erent outcome, is a
fool’s errand. Research and best practices suggest the following strategies for improved
success when recruiting law enforcement members.
1. Develop Your Brand
As a profession, we must better assimilate best practices from other
industries and professions, in particular, the private-sector. Marketing
and branding are the lifeblood of most private sector organizations.
Given the new reality we must be attentive to our agency’s brand
and actively market and recruit candidates. The agency brand
communicated to candidates and the community of “who” you are and
your purpose, is critical to attracting GenZ candidates.
Develop your brand by communicating your mission, vision, and value
statements. Model the behavior that aligns with those commitments.
Hold members accountable to adhere to what you stand for as an
agency and the expectations of how the business of policing is handled
in your agency.
2. Devise and Revise Your Recruiting Strategy
Using static boilerplate templates for recruiting, or worse, not having
a recruiting strategy at all, are very unlikely to produce success. Every
agency is di erent. Recognize the advantages and disadvantages
your agency o ers candidates. Remember the tenants of person-
organizational fit (P-O fit) and recruit candidates based on that P-O fit
to your organization.
Agencies must also be flexible and quickly adjust to changing dynamics that impact
successful recruiting. Agencies compete regionally and are always jockeying to be
among the top agencies in a given area of pay and benefits. In these competitive
environments, an agency can quickly go from the top tier to the bottom tier. Agencies
with strong cultures, leadership, and mission-oriented branding can withstand
fluctuations in their agencies pay and benefits as compared to with competing agencies.
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Some best practices to consider when creating the agency’s recruiting strategy include:
1. Employee Referral Systems. Ranked as among the most successful, employee
referral systems (ERS) can be a force multiplier for your recruiting team while
putting the impetus for recruiting good members in the hands of everyone. It
is critical to think through the aspects of ERS incentives. Both LAPD and Texas
DPS had robust ERSs but left room for loopholes for misuse and abuse. Both
agencies fell prey to the common law enforcement response when members
exploit a loophole to personal and ethical advantage. Rather than deal with the
individual members and fix the policy, we have a long-standing tendency in
our profession to throw out the baby with the bathwater. Both LAPD and Texas
DPS are reportedly considering bringing back their ERS.
Larger agencies can budget and provide financial incentives for members
who help attract and select new members. These incentives vary among
departments but often include a monetary payout when a new member is
hired, completes field training, and/or successfully completes probation.
Agencies should also consider incentives beyond monetary. Given the current
generation’s value of work-life balance, agencies can consider additional time
o as an option or in place of a monetary incentive.
2. Social Media Marketing. GenZ members overwhelmingly report that social
media is their primary source of information and news. Agencies with robust
and active social media presence report success in community outreach,
controlling media narratives and recruiting. Agencies also report success in
using GenZ members as PIOs and recruiters. Agencies can also leverage
the talents of o icers and share their stories of being a member of your
department. Short social media videos that depict a realistic shift in the life of
an o icer have proven highly e ective and show the personal side of policing,
the good work by o icers and the department, which the media does not
share, and e ectively communicate your agency’s brand and purpose.
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3. Select and Train Recruiters. Once upon a time, recruiting could easily be an
additional or ancillary duty for o icers serving in training or other sta support
roles. When potential candidates were readily willing to apply and test at the
agency’s convenience and often do too few vacancies, we could successfully
take shortcuts. Those days are over. Agencies must select willing recruiters
to serve as the department’s ambassadors. We also must do a better job as
a profession and provide adequate training specifically focused on brand
management, marketing, and the ability to analyze and track progress of
recruiting plans. Some agencies have gone as far as to send sta to military
recruiting schools. Our recruiters are often our first impression at job talks, job
fairs, and other recruiting events in the community. Are we ensuring that we
are supporting our recruiters so they can put their best foot forward?
4. Streamlined Testing and Selection Processes. Candidates simply do not have
to wait weeks or months to find out if they passed the background check or
if they’re worthy to join the ranks of an agency as they did a few short years
ago. The job options for good candidates are immense. Every industry and
every profession seeks willing employees who can pass a background check.
Successful agencies today have capitalized on expedited processes and
conducting physical agility tests, initial screenings for disqualifications, and
other processes that allow for a conditional o er of employment within hours
of a testing process. Agencies nationwide are beginning to see increased
applications and successful recruits from these expedited processes.
For example, the Gwinnett County Police Department o ers candidates
who successfully complete their initial testing process with a conditional
o er of employment that same day. As soon as candidates with conditional
o ers qualify for a final o er, GCPD brings them on-board, assigns them to
administrative duties, which reduces the chance they will leave for another
agency or job to earn a living. You can read details on the Gwinnett County
Police Department’s strategy in the article Addressing Sta ing Shortages by
Streamlining the Hiring Process in this edition of the Georgia Police Chief.
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5. Maintain Contact with Candidates. Another strategy that leverages
generational preferences is assigning an agency point-of-contact for each
candidate with a conditional o er. This may or may not be a member of the
recruiting team. Some agencies have part-time recruiters to help at job fairs
as well as other events to serve in these critical mentoring roles. While some
will argue it is handholding, it is successful. It also develops rapport and trust
among potential new recruits and agencies. Military recruiters have practiced
this approach for decades, and it is an emerging best practice agencies should
consider.
6. Seed and Harvest Interest. Police Explorers, Police Cadets, High School
Criminal Justice Programs, summer camps, college guest lectures, and any
creative opportunity to put a motivated member of your agency in front
of potential future recruits is critical to future recruiting e orts. Agency
administrators often point to the time lag between the investment of time and
the point of return. This is a very real practical issue. Another reality is that
every day you delay planting seeds of interest and engagement with potential
future applicants is another delayed day of harvesting a good candidate. The
police recruiting and retention issue is not going to disappear anytime soon, if
ever. Agency recruiting strategies without a seed and harvest plan will always
be playing catch-up.
7. Hire above Authorized Strength. With agencies knowing they will lose o icers
throughout the year, consider implementing a program to enable agencies to
hire above their authorized sta ing levels. This will enable the department to
bring candidates on board and train them to fill a vacancy that will inevitably
occur and allow the agency to continue to meet the community’s needs as
well as avoid placing o icers under increased pressure to work longer hours
with higher workloads, another contributor to increased turnover.
8. Professional Sta Support. The vast majority of agencies are working
shorthanded. Some agencies are 20 to 30% unsta ed. This puts an increased
workload in every area of the agency as well as increased expectations on
your recruiting team. Add to that equation the fact that one-third of new
o icers will not be with the department in five years, by no fault of your own,
increases the workload of your recruiting team.
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Consider the importance of marketing, recruiting, testing, background investigations,
and the host of other required screening and onboarding processes to arrive at and
maintain adequately sta ed agencies. Continuing to allocate resources to your recruiting
operations based on how we have always done will lead to continued frustration
and underperformance. Consider adding non-sworn professional sta to assist with
background investigations and other recruiting-related and onboarding processes to
free up sworn members to engage with prospective candidates and network in the
community to seed and harvest.
Some agencies have partnered with outside providers to assist in various aspects of
the recruiting process, including background investigations, managing polygraphs or
psychological evaluations, and other time-consuming yet systematic functions.
Developmental Culture Tank
The key aspect of the LELP is the developmental cultural tank. Figure 1 depicts
the tank with organizational facets that include ethics, modeling behavior, agency
written directives, coaching, mentoring, employee development training, educational
opportunities, wellness programs, promotional processes, job rotation, transparency, and
performance management systems. These represent key aspects that fuel your agency’s
organizational behavior and culture.
FIGURE 2 CULTURE FUEL TANK
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Agency employees, from the chief down to the newest o icer and collective professional
sta , influence and impact whether this developmental tank is a positively charged fuel
tank (figure 2) where they serve as agency assets in the development and modeling of
positive followership and leadership behaviors or conversely serve as a cultural septic
tank (figure 3).
What determines if your agency’s developmental cultural tank contains fuel to support
your members in developing good followership and leadership behaviors or is it a septic
tank that works against valuable developmental opportunities? This all depends on
the time and attention command sta and agency members use to evaluate agency
processes and devote the time and cognitive energy to improvements and maintaining a
positive pipeline.
A good place to start evaluating your pipeline is to simply ask, Are you are hopeful about
the future of your agency based on your applicant pools, retention rates, and promotional
candidates? Are the systems resulting in good selection and development? Are FTO,
Corporal, Sergeant, and Lieutenant candidates being promoted quickly? Do you o er
training for new positions prior to assignments, such as a Sergeant FTO program? Are
they benefiting from strong modeling, coaching, and mentoring? As Chief, are your
promotional decisions more di icult because your selection pool is rich with talent, or are
you trying to decide which candidates o er the least amount of liability?
FIGURE 3 CULTURE SEPTIC TANK
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Agency Processes
When we think of our agencies being fueled by our developmental culture tank, with
members developing and advancing upwards through the pipeline, we can conceptualize
the valves, filters, regulators, injectors, and other components to ensure the pipeline is
properly pressurized and helps members advance through it. We have a tendency in
policing to accept good enough, or that’s how we’ve always done it when evaluating
these processes. All too often, we are satisfied as long as we made our certification or
accreditation goal, and the process seems to at least keep the status quo.
These process components are as critical to your agency’s leadership pipeline as they
are to any actual pipeline. They need attention, monitoring, and maintenance to keep
a positive flow. These critical processes help establish and maintain expectations and
standards, including field training, performance management systems, promotional
processes, written directive systems, and wellness programs.
Field Training
The second valve in LELP (Figure 1) located immediately above the fuel tank and
is controlled by the agencies field training program and processes. The FTO’s and
supervisors have their hands on the control in determining if new o icers in training
successfully go solo and eventually meet the conditions of probation.
Field training programs and FTOs have always been recognized as a critical part of
the agencies mission. Much like the renewed focus on developing and training new
sergeants, field training not only o ers opportunities for enhanced transfer of training
success for new members, it also o ers a rich opportunity for FTOs to develop critical
leadership and coaching skill sets. Agencies report lack of interest among o icers to
become a field training o icer, which really is not a new phenomena. However, with the
values and expectations of GenZ members coupled with the reality a far fewer military
veterans and generational cops, the critical role of the FTO has growing influence upon
success and retention. Serving as an FTO is also a great developmental approach for first
line supervisors.
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Policing has an advantage over most professions in that most agencies deploy field
training programs with daily observation reports, multiple phases, and a checko . In
terms of feedback, both in quality, standards, and frequency, no profession does it better.
This can be a strategic advantage for law enforcement given the GenZ value placement
of feedback.
FIGURE 4 JONES RECRUITING AND RETENTION MODEL
Figure 4 depicts the Jones Recruiting and Retention Model (2019) that provides a
good overview in the various processes and outcomes of field training programs. The
model starts with the applicant pool entering the selection process where ideally the
knowledge, skills, abilities, and other attributes necessary for a career in law enforcement
get filtered resulting in candidates’ selection.
After an onboarding and orientation phase, field training commences. This is actually a
point of critical purpose that agencies can improve. The field training process, for law
enforcement professionals, is simply a reality and constant aspect of our profession. It
is easy to take the robust nature of the field training process as well as the opportunities
it provides for granted. It is important to recognize law enforcement’s flagship training
program for new o icers aligns exceptionally with broader best practices and research
in the area referred to as transfer of training. Transfer of training helps determine if new
o icers fall into the functional turnover, dysfunctional turnover, or retention categories.
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Functional turnover occurs during the field training process. This type of turnover is
“functional” in the respect that the new o icer does not complete the structured process
designed to prepare them to go solo and therefore had the outcomes as planned
for in the field training process. For instance, a new o icer in field training may get
remediation, but eventually fail to meet performance standards. In some cases, this is
avoidable with good selection but not always. Sometimes a good candidate that looks
good on paper fails to realize that potential. This would fit in to the P-J fit categories
where the new o icer’s KSAOs may not align with the job requirements or the P-O fit
aspects of that particular o icer may not be a good fit for the particular agency.
Agencies are increasingly reporting new o icers quitting during the field training
program, even though they may have no reported performance deficiencies. We coined
this, changing their minds about law enforcement. The likelihood of the new o icer
changing their mind can be decreased with a good realistic job preview, required
ride-alongs, and pre-field training mentoring. This type of turnover is also considered
functional and falls within the P-O fit category.
Agencies ultimately seek retention as witnessed when transfer of training works
and o icers proceed through the field training program and seamlessly go solo to
automatically complete conditions of probation. This can include o icers who may need
remedial training during the process but ultimately meet performance standards to go
solo.
Dysfunctional turnover occurs through what are considered “shocks” or unanticipated
separation from the agency. Shocks include poor relationships with supervisors,
especially if supervisors treat o icers unfairly or poorly, unanticipated external job o ers,
the unplanned exit of an employee (Lee and Mitchell, 1994). New versions of shocks that
agencies cannot anticipate is the trend of good performing o icers to simply resign,
usually within the first five years of their career in law enforcement. This is an artifact
of career and work values of GenZ members.The added challenge of o icers leaving
with the first five years is the increasing trend that they leave the profession rather than
historically going to another agency (PERF, 2019).
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Actionable Steps to Improve Retention
There are the proactive steps agencies can take to improve retention through more
focused strategies regarding transfer of training and framing remedial training.
Leader-Coach FTO Model
The most significant change an agency can make is transitioning from the historical
evaluator-trainer FTO model to a leader-coach FTO model. The historical evaluator-
trainer model is the FTO serving as a gate keeper for the agency by watching, evaluating,
and reactively training on errors. This is a “prove yourself” model that most command
sta members recall from their rookie days. This worked, once upon a time, when new
candidates were plentiful and law enforcement could be very selective.
Today calls for a leader-coach model. This shifts the FTO’s perspective from a “prove
it” to the “show me” model that resonates with GenZ preferences and values. This also
aligns with tenants of successful training transfer of “tell-show-do” by a coach and
mentor. This model also recognizes serving as a FTO provides the first opportunity
to supervise in the leadership pipeline. FTOs, as leaders, develop critical skills and
appreciation for the importance of leader-member-exchange (LMX) between supervisors
and o icers. The impact of positive leader-member-exchange (LMX) is one-fifth of
training outcomes and one-third of o ice training satisfaction in training outcomes
(Brunetto et al., 2017).
Framing Remedial Training
Most of us can remember new o icers in training hitting the wall, getting in their own
way, and otherwise succumbing to a self-fulfilling prophecy of field training failure. Law
enforcement once had the luxury of allowing new o icers to simply fail out and replace
them with another new candidate. While the costs, both financially and operationally
were high, the process generally it worked. Today is a new day. Agencies report changing
and even lowering hiring standards amidst the critical shortage of willing candidates who
can pass a background check (PERF, 2019).
GenZ Members are a strategic advantage in that they prefer to be trained and provided
feedback, and desire to understand the purpose in their work and mission. These
are areas agencies can leverage enhanced transfer training outcomes if we examine
historical ways utilize pre-FTO training and remedial training.
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Multiple studies (Jones, 2019) speak to the importance of how we label training and its
purpose. No o icer in training that wants to get the memo that they are being paused
in field training with the clock starting on remedial training. Additionally, agencies are
usually bound with the time limit on how much time “remedial” training can occur before
a failure to meet probation outcome.
Reducing the “Remedial Training” Time
What we label training matters. “Remedial” means something to new o icers. It impacts
their confidence and can lead to self-fulling prophecies of failure. Considering this does
not equate to coddling, it reflects the reality that we need to lead and coach success
rather than evaluate and train and hope for success.
The leader-coach FTO model o ers opportunities to minimize the need to pause the
field training process for remediation. While not eliminating a need for remedial training,
the leader-coach FTO model hand successfully addressed performance shortfalls
immediately and e iciently. Good FTOs have always jumped calls and looked for
opportunities to expose their trainees to situations to gain experience. Sometimes shifts
will rely on trainees to carry a heavy load and calls that generate police reports.
These opportunities to jump calls continue to be great opportunities for FTOs to evaluate
and observe, they often come at the experience of taking time to provide immediate
feedback and conduct developmental training on the spot. Our calls for service will
always take priority, FTOs with a leader-coach mindset are more likely take the time to
address issues rather than to put it o for later in the shift or the next day. The shift also
requires agency support and can require a shift in expectations from road sergeant and
shift mates.
Pre-Field Competency Training
Research (Jones, 2019) suggests report writing remains a critical fail-point for o icers
failing to complete field training. It should be no surprise given the current high school
reading and test scores, the commonplace of texting and social media shorthand, and
use of AI for editing. Expecting a new o icer in training to keep up with all the demands
of on-the-job training and work on catching up with the writing skills necessary for
successful report writing is a high demand.
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An alternative approach is to assess and address any report writing issues prior to
commencing field training. This can be as simple as having new hires watch episodes of
COPS or body cam videos and write reports. These can be reviewed for completeness
and accuracy to establish a baseline level of proficiency. Proficiency may be established
in one day, or a week, or longer. The new o icer is not permitted to proceed to the next
stage of orientation or start field training until the base level of proficiency is met. This is
important to skill development and the confidence a new o icer can be successful.
Performance Management Systems
If you are in an agency that has a solid performance management system you have an
advantage. A good performance appraisal is part of an overall performance management
system that includes regular feedback sessions and goal setting. These systems help
ensure supervisors are providing critical developmental feedback and setting goals
with followers receiving clear understandings and expectations. Clear and reinforced
expectations are critical to strong performance and development (Jones and Blackledge,
2021).
Some agencies report being forced by their city’s HR to utilize a generic general
employee performance review. If your agency does not have a law enforcement specific
performance review, supervisors cand ensure they are providing feedback, meaningful
performance review, and critical goal setting.
A key aspect of proper rating requires two key elements that address both the legal
guidelines and general fairness. First, the system is based on clearly described, and
observable standardized behavior. This behavior must be clearly operationalized with
descriptions that articulate meaningful performance related to the position, not just
results of outcomes. Second, the supervisor is routinely and physically present to
accurately report on this observable behavior firsthand (Jones and Blackledge, 2021).
FIGURE 5 SMART GOAL SETTING
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A well-established best practice is the SMART (figure 5) model of goal setting. This
model is powerful served as a great framework for joint discussions on developing and
attaining goals. Research (Foss and Lindenberg, 2013) found organizational commitment
toward objectives when there is broad participation in goal setting with rewards linked
to goal achievement. These goals should be challenging, but achievable. These can
be used for work performance and production as well as developmental goals, such as
college, training, or healthy habits. The SMART strategy to achieving goals can be used
for short term or long-term goals and align with work values and preferences of GenZ
members.
Promotional Processes
Another often overlooked process critical to the law enforcement leadership pipeline
are they actual promotional processes and expectations that they convey. There is a
big di erence between preparing for promotional processes versus preparing to be
promoted. And intentional and thoughtfully designed leadership pipeline can increase
candidate success in both.
Are the agency’s promotional exams simply multiple-choice questions that require rote
memorization and ample time to study? Are the processes robust and actually test
decision making required of individuals performing in positions candidates are seeking?
Are the qualifications and expected performance criteria well established and adhered
to over time? Ultimately, are agency leaders happy with the outcomes the promotional
process in terms of the candidates selected and their performance in the promoted rank?
If you answered “no” to some or all the above questions, you need to reevaluate your
promotional processes. These processes communicate what is important to the agency.
Additionally, candidates should be studying materials that help them and their job
proficiency regardless of their promotional process outcome. Agency written directives,
statutes, case law, contracts, and relevant city or county directives to their hopeful
position should comprise the majority of the process. Agencies deploying multiple choice
exams as the only scoring mechanism will find themselves promoting people who are
good at taking tests, but fail at the problem solving and other leadership aspects of the
position. Additionally, testing on a popular leadership book may very well not meet with
the KSAOs of the job.
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Agencies must also be mindful of weights placed the various components of the process.
For instance, some agencies award points for seniority, educational achievement,
or performance reviews. If it is not calculated correctly, this weighting can push
the candidate with the lowest score to the top of the list resulting in an unintended
consequence of the least prepared candidate being promoted. While some agencies
are locked in with contractual language, it is important to review and discuss as every
agency member should help at the best qualified and prepared candidates are promoted.
Written Directives
Do you have agency members asking for guidance on important aspects of their jobs
without written directives? Are you spending a large amount of time on dealing with
exceptions to policies? Do you find policy and practice disconnects during promotional
process development, accreditation, or certification reviews? Do you know you have
policies that your agency does not follow in practice?
Think of written directives as a solid framework for problem solving for your agency.
If you invest in developing, maintaining, and training on contemporary policies and
procedures you save countless hours of reinventing a wheel or dealing with issues
repeatedly without consistency of application.
The age of AI and generational preferences for digital content can provide an advantage
in managing your written directives or a liability if you are not proactive. Leverage
these to take the burden o mid-managers and supervisors throughout the sworn and
professional sta ranks. It will likely equate to fewer calls from sta at 3:00 a.m. when
they can’t find a policy on the “thing that does not happen often, but when it does, we
need a policy now” event.
Wellness Programs
Taking care of our people is a time-honored goal of policing. The acknowledgement of
mental health issues, including PTSD, among police o icers in recent years has helped
establish wellness programs to deal with the e ects, and stigma, of mental health and
wellness needs for o icers, professional sta , and their families.
Line-supervisors and mid-managers play a critical role in recognizing potential wellness
related issues, facilitating appropriate conversations, and being fully aware and capable
to bring the resources available. We also cannot underscore the importance of ensuring
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your people get enough sleep to cognitive function, especially doing high stress and
ambiguous situations, as paramount (Jones and Blackledge, 2021).
A structured wellness program is critical to creating and maintaining readily available
mental health and other wellness resources. Most agencies have Employee Assistance
Programs (EAP) but o icers, professional sta , and their families often provide feedback
that the providers are not “culturally competent” to policing. This poses a major barrier
for agencies, as it can be a struggle to get our people to go in the first place, and a poor
experience can exasperate the situation.
Agencies must network and identify providers that do have a foundation for working with
cops and families. In situations where there are limited providers that can “speak cop”,
then collaborate with other agencies and invite interested practitioners to do ride-alongs,
attend training, and get to know the agency and its mission.
We can also leverage available training for peer-counselors and establish internal
resources. These can lead to strong programs and a network of resources. Trainings can
be o ered for an array of issues, to include mindfulness, personal fitness, and resilience.
Robust programs are including training in personal finance and financial literacy classes.
A critical key to a successful wellness program is to have champions within the agency,
with both sworn and professional sta , in identifying resources and building credibility
within the agency. If you have an established program, support those accountable to
expand their networks and constantly monitor for additional resources and opportunities.
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If you do not have a formal program, you should start one. Find best practices and speak
with agencies that have good programs. Start somewhere. Find an internal champion.
Provide training on the importance of agency members looking out for one another
and seeking assistance. It is not only the right thing to do, but it is also a critical part of
developing a culture of leadership critical to retention and wellbeing.
Conclusions
There is no magic pill for our recruiting and retention problems. There is no quick fix
for the growing impact of poor supervision and leadership on o icers and professional
sta . Working shorthanded impacts wellness of our people. Improving these situations
requires attention, time, and resolve to chip away at making improvements and changes.
Involving the entire agency in assessing and developing strategies is a force multiplier
and naturally leads to improved buy-in from agency members. The LELP can serve as a
model to help frame the components critical to a strong culture for developing leadership
and followership, which is the ultimate key to retention.
Our third and final part of the law enforcement leadership pipeline series will explore
the various passages of the law enforcement leadership pipeline along with actionable
interventions that can increase development.
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Dr. Marshall Jones leverages experience from law en-
forcement, consulting, coaching, training, and applied
research to explore leadership, organizational, recruit-
ing, and retention issues. He is the co-author of the
book Law Enforcement Leadership, Management, and
Supervision published by Blue360 Media.
References
Brunetto, Y., Teo, S., Shacklock, K., Farr-Wharton, R., & Shriberg, A. (2017). The impact of supervi-
sor-subordinate relationships and a trainee characteristic upon police o icer work outcomes. Journal
of Management and Organization, 23(3), 423-436.
Charan, R., Drotter, S., and Noel, J. (2011). The leadership pipeline: How to build the leadership powered
company. Jossey-Bass.
Foss, N. and Lindenberg, S. (2013). Microfoundations for strategy” A goal-framing perspective on driv-
ers of value creation. Academy of Management Perspectives. 27(2). 85-102.
Jones, M.A. & Blackledge, J. (2021). Law enforcement leadership, management, and supervision. Blue
360 Media.
Jones, M.A. (2019). Situational judgement selection test utility: Implications for police turnover. [Doc-
tor Dissertation, Florida Institute of Technology]. Scholarship Repository at Florida Tech. http://hdl.
handle.net/11141/2986
Lee, T. W., & Mitchell, T. R. (1994). An alternative approach: The unfolding model of voluntary employee
turnover. The Academy of Management Review, 19, 51–89.
Police Executive Research Forum (PERF). (2019). The workforce crisis, and what police agencies can
do about it. Washington, DC: PERF. https://www.policeforum.org/assets/WorkforceCrisis.pdf
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