Bald On The Beat - New Zealand Police Association

‘Better work stories’ campaignMr Whittaker outlined a recruitment strategyallied to an advertising campaign, whichwas recently launched across various mediaforums. The “better work stories” advertisingcampaign had seen the launch of a newwebsite and ongoing initiatives being lookedat were advertising at key events such asexpos and the possible implementation of aninteractive game to attract young applicants.Utilisation of Pacific Island networks and theuse of other media would also be part of thecampaign with a pilot zone being establishedin Auckland.New Zealand Police AssociationThe advertising campaign focuses on policingbeing an interesting and varied role with anemphasis on recruits being able to look forwardto having a job with meaning and a sense ofchallenge. To this end, the advertising wouldhighlight situations that police officers mightcommonly find themselves in.Recruitment and retention; aglobal challenge for PoliceRecruitment and retention is a major issuefacing policing globally and an address byPolice Association Research/Policy Advisor,Peter Agnew, gave delegates an overview ofthe common challenges many departmentsface.There were common themes, as emphasisedin a variety of studies, not the least of whichwas the report of The Australian Centre forPolicing Research (West Australia), whichsuggested that policing was facing a twinproblem of an ageing population on the onehand coupled with a decline in the youngerpopulation on the other.Police numbers in New South Wales are belowthe required standard and 3,000 new policeofficers are required over the next three years.In NSW attrition rates are running between50 and 80 per month and this was despite amassive recruitment drive.In July 2004 South Australia took a leafout of the NZ Police book and recruited 81UK recruits and then added a further 85former police officers in March last year.“Police had exhausted the local market andmany applicants had proved unsuitableor unemployable,” Mr Agnew said. SouthAustralian Police had been reluctant to droprecruitment standards just to fill places.Rally in TownsvilleThe shortage of officers had prompted a rallyin Townsville, Queensland, in order to try andfill 34 current police vacancies and in remoteparts of rural Queensland there was significantunderstaffing.Against this background were allegations thatthe Police Academy had rehired previouslyfailed applicants and allowed them to continueworking for Police.Mr Agnew said that the terrorism attacks of9/11 had increased competition from otheragencies such as Customs and the ArmedForces in the Northern Territory leadingCommissioner White to try and make Policethe “employer of choice” by endeavouring tomaintain competitive salaries, technologicaladvances and conditions in order to retainexisting officers.‘Recruitment cannibalism’In the USA there is intense competition– known as ‘recruitment cannibalism’–between various competing departmentsdealing with a shrinking pool of applicants. ByJune of this year 80% (13,600) of the 17,000law enforcement agencies had positions theycould not fill.As a result, bidding wars between variousagencies have escalated to the stagewhere Houston, which has 1200 vacancies,recently lured 53 deputies from the Sheriff’sDepartment by paying a $7,000 signingbonus, offering a $12,000 rise in pay and a12-week modified Police Academy course.San Diego followed suit with a $5,000 signingbonus for experienced officers.San Antonio needs 500 extra police officers,Dallas needs 800, New York has 3,300vacancies and California has a massive8,500 vacancies. Just five years ago the 39Police academies in California were turningout 4,500 new police officers annually. Thisyear fewer than 300 new police officerswill graduate. The situation is pretty direin Los Angeles with the LAPD boosting itsrecruitment team from two to 12 staff, with a$1,000 cash reward/bounty paid to any officerwho brings in a new recruit.Advertising campaignLas Vegas has adopted an advertisingcampaign aimed specifically at 18 to 25-year-olds by using cartoons because it iscompeting with the military, which pitches itsrecruitment drive through similar initiativessuch as interactive games on its websites.Chicago used to have a waiting list of applicantsand now it scrambles to keep recruits.Across the border inCanada, a CanadianPolice Sector Councilstudy recently • Peter Agnewrevealed “recruitmentand retention as priority number one” due todwindling applicant pools. Police agencieshave begun to mirror the American situationwith cities and provinces poaching officersfrom neighbouring jurisdictions.The famed Royal Canadian Mounted Policehave indicated huge concern about what itterms “the greying of the red serge”. Withthousands of officers due to retire, the RCMPfaces the uphill task of recruiting 6,000additional officers in the next three years inorder to replace them. Demand for policeofficers is at its highest level since 1981.UK situationConversely, the United Kingdom is not facingserious recruitment problems. In fact, with138,000 officers, UK forces now have thehighest number of police officers sincerecords began in 1921. There is a backlogof willing recruits in Northern Ireland but, inan almost mirror image of recent concernsin New Zealand, the Police Federation ofEngland and Wales predicts a future problemin the Criminal Investigation Department (CID)because of what it sees as a “lack of focus”on retaining detectives. Ethnic minorities arealso under represented in the UK. NZ Policehas been making a concerted effort to addressthis issue to reflect population increases.Mr Agnew said that ageing populations, ababy boomer generation nearing retirement,and a diminishing number of younger peoplewho cannot meet the physical or healthstandards that policing demands, werecoming together into a mix “which wouldsignificantly challenge police forces aroundthe world” in terms of their future recruitmentand retention challenges.December 2006289