Every Chief and HR Director in the country has the same mandate: build a force that reflects the community it serves. Calls for increased diversity in law enforcement and fire services are louder than ever.
Yet, many agencies find themselves recruiting from the same homogeneous pools they always have. They attend the same job fairs at the same criminal justice programs and wonder why their applicant demographics don’t change.
Increasing diversity isn’t about lowering standards; it’s about widening the net and removing unseen barriers. To attract a diverse workforce, agencies must move beyond traditional methods and embrace targeted marketing and unbiased, automated communication.
Breaking Out of the “Word of Mouth” Bubble
Historically, public safety recruiting relied heavily on word-of-mouth. “My dad was a cop, so I became a cop.” While legacy is important, relying on it exclusively perpetuates the existing demographic makeup of your agency.
To reach underrepresented communities, you must actively market to them where they are. This means utilizing digital advertising campaigns targeted not just by geography, but by interests outside of typical law enforcement spheres. It means creating recruitment media that showcases diverse officers already in your ranks, proving that there is a place for everyone in your agency.
How Automation Helps Remove Unconscious Bias
One of the biggest barriers to diverse hiring occurs in the initial contact phase. Unconscious biases can creep into how recruiters respond to names on emails or initial phone inquiries.
Safeguard Recruiting’s software solution helps level the playing field at the top of the funnel. By using standardized, automated text and email workflows to respond to every initial inquiry instantly, every potential applicant receives the exact same enthusiastic welcome and clear instructions on next steps, regardless of who they are or when they applied.
Building Trust Through Transparent Communication
Minority communities often have historical mistrust of law enforcement. A burdensome, opaque, six-month hiring process only deepens that mistrust.
By using modern recruiting tools to provide constant, transparent updates on where an applicant is in the process (e.g., “Your background check is 60% complete”), you build trust. You show that your agency values transparency and respects their time.
Building a diverse agency requires a new toolkit. Safeguard Recruiting provides the targeted marketing strategies to reach new communities and the software to engage them fairly.
