Compensation as a Police Candidate Attraction Tool: An Organizational-Level Analysis

Abstract

In 2008, state and local law enforcement agencies hired 61,000 new full-time sworn personnel. To develop a sufficient applicant pool, organizations may use a variety of attraction strategies, including financial inducements, especially when broader factors lessen the appeal of a job. Using data from the 2007 and 2013 Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics survey, the present study tests whether unfavorable contingencies (e.g., high cost of living, rigorous application standards) are related to officer compensation-pay, supplemental incentives, and reimbursements-within a sample of large metropolitan police agencies. Results are generally consistent with contingency theory, at least with respect to salaries. Departments offer higher salaries to offset more rigorous hiring standards, high costs of living, and other unfavorable contingencies. The implications of the findings for police officer recruitment are discussed.

Elevated police turnover following the summer of George Floyd protests: A synthetic control study

“…However, monetary compensation is only one of several factors known to influence officer turnover. As Giblin and Galli (2017, p. 398) note, higher salaries may be used in an attempt to offset less favorable considerations: “[T]he supply of prospective officers fluctuates based on the perceived appeal of…law enforcement.” For example, while Schuck and Rabe‐Hemp (2018) found that higher salaries were associated with lower turnover rates, they also found that police agencies with a higher propensity for dangerous or strained police–citizen encounters were more likely to have elevated levels of turnover. This turnover can hamper organizational efforts to repair damaged relationships between agencies and the public they serve, as the “reality of strained budgets and long‐standing issues in the hiring and retention of officers will likely pose significant barriers” to efforts such as community‐oriented policing (Peyton et al., 2019, p. 19897).…”

A Survey of Issues in the Recruitment, Hiring and Retention of Law Enforcement Officers: Investigating the Rural-Urban Divide

“…In addition to a changing applicant pool, common barriers to recruiting officers include low wages (Giblin & Galli, 2017); cultures that do not support minorities or women officers (Cambareri & Kuhns, 2018;Kingshott, 2013;Wilson et al, 2016;Wilson et al, 2013); anti-drug policies that prevent hiring individuals who previously used marijuana (Bottema & Telep, 2021); and others. In addition, college graduates may lack adequate preparation for the arduous hiring process to enter a law enforcement career.…”

Gender diversification in police agencies: is it a zero-sum game?

“…Agencies may not leverage this as completely as they could. Starting pay was positively correlated with applications from women (Jordan et al , 2009), suggesting efforts to raise entry-level compensation may prove fruitful (Giblin and Galli, 2017; Yu, 2018).…”