While recruitment tactics have received considerable attention from policing practitioners and scholars, retention tactics have not. This is unfortunate, because the cost to retain a police officer is much lower than that to recruit one. To overcome this gap, this research reviews 63 tactics, identified through a review of academic literature, practitioner reports, and media accounts, that police agencies may use to increase their retention of officers. More specifically, it presents rankings of these tactics by 30 law enforcement practitioners on dimensions of staffing levels, workload management, timing of effects, ease of implementation, agency costs, quality of policing, and community policing outcomes.
The authors find that tactics vary in their effectiveness and across dimensions. Practitioners note that financial tactics such as increased pay and enhanced benefits, for example, can boost staffing levels but entail significant costs. Reducing workload by reducing calls for service (e.g., by responding to calls through other means) can improve workload management but may be difficult to implement. Civilianizing positions can have some positive effects on maintaining staff levels and workload management while having relatively quick effects but also be difficult to implement.
Agencies will need to consider their own specific contexts in choosing tactics for retention. This guide can help agencies choose tactics that align with their specific goals, constraints, and needs. More broadly, it can help agencies move from ad hoc retention efforts to evidence-based workforce planning that integrates retention with broader personnel strategies.
