FRA’s 7th annual Police Recruitment and Retention Summit will return on January 25-26, 2021 as a virtual event. In advance of this year’s conference, FRA will also offer a live-streamed virtual seminar on November 12-13 to discuss critical tactics to navigate the impacts of COVID-19 as well as the civil unrest currently seen throughout the nation.
Public safety personnel return year after year for FRA’s Police Recruitment and Retention Summit for innovative strategies to improve recruiting efforts and maximize retention rates. This year, to best equip attendees amid the current climate, FRA will host two conferences: a virtual event focused on how to pivot amid COVID-19 and civil unrest, as well as the 7th annual conference, which will also be held virtually.
Here’s what FRA has planned for both events:
A virtual seminar for timely discussion
The virtual event, Converting During COVID: Police Recruitment and Retention During COVID and Civil Unrest, will be live streamed on November 12-13. Throughout the two-day seminar, industry leaders will share strategies to improve recruitment and retention, enhance marketing processes, recruit in a virtual world, and retain important assets within your organization.
“FRA is excited to offer valuable information and an outstanding speaking faculty to our audience during this very difficult time for the policing profession,” said Tim Hart, senior conference director, FRA. “We strive to offer the best educational content, and it shows as we have exceeded our expected delegate pool considerably of professionals that want to improve their current processes to help recruit and retain the best candidates.”
Here’s a glimpse at a few of the speakers and sessions FRA is excited to bring to the virtual stage:
A look at how to capture attention through positive strategic social media campaigns. The session will be led by Melanie Talia, J.D., president & CEO, New Orleans Police and Justice Foundation, who will discuss how to enhance your organization’s presence on social media, maximize reach through data analytics to identify the platforms that offer the best success rates for targeted age groups, create a strategic plan of action for social media posts to boost exposure and gain interest from new potential recruits, and analyze your website to ensure a user-friendly experience, positive messaging, and current content.
John Mbakulo, staff sergeant-Recruiting Division, Ottawa Police Department, and Cathy Sanz, president, Women in Federal Law Enforcement, will discuss how to reduce barriers in the recruiting process preventing candidates from reaching their goal. Mbakulo and Sanz will analyze processes to identify artificial barriers in the hiring and training process, explore how to remove any barriers and design a new process to increase success, recommend how to revisit previously unsuccessful candidates to encourage them to reapply and how to best guide them, and examine the internal timeline for onboarding and how to shorten the process while increasing success.
Attendees will also learn how to adapt your recruiting process to remain successful during uncertainty from a lineup of industry leaders: Marvin “Ben” Haiman, executive director, professional development bureau, Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department; Mike Boward, sergeant, patrol division, Fort Collins Police Services; Naimah Saadiq, police personnel recruiter, Arizona State University Police Department. The speakers will share new approaches to reach target audiences virtually to remain competitive, analyze approaches by other departments and organizations for successful recruiting techniques, and review new tactics to make your organization stand out and attract the best candidates.
Click here to learn more about Converting During COVID: Police Recruitment and Retention During COVID and Civil Unrest, including the full agenda and registration information.
Annual conference returns as virtual event
FRA is excited to bring the annual Police Recruitment and Retention Summit back as a virtual event on January 25-26, 2021. For the second year, the conference will feature inspiring content to mentor, empower, and encourage leadership within your organization.
The two-day conference will feature scheduled networking opportunities and more than 20 esteemed speakers.
Here’s a first look at a few of the general sessions on this year’s agenda:
- Keynote addresses on how to change the perception of law enforcement within the communities you serve and how to generate a positive culture within your department to increase retention and improve recruiting efforts
- Strategies to overcome barriers to increase productivity when recruiting minority and female candidates to enhance your department
- A close look at a three-step process for successful recruiting: creating content, recruiting website, and online advertising
- Recruitment strategies for the 21st century
- A discussion on how best to nurture and enhance leadership with the next generation of officers
The Women in Public Safety track, which is often co-located with the Police Recruitment and Retention Summit, has been expanded into a stand-alone virtual seminar. Stay tuned for more details!
Click here to learn more about the Police Recruitment and Retention Summit, including the full agenda and registration information.