The must-attend event for law enforcement professionals will return February 18-20, 2025 in Las Vegas. New this year, registration will include access to the pre-conference workshop on digital recruiting through social media and programmatic advertising.
As always, The 15th Police Recruitment and Retention Summit will provide a five-star conference experience complete with critical discussions around what's working, what isn't, and how to implement an impactful recruitment strategy.
With innovative strategies to attract and keep high-quality officers needed more than ever, the February program will spotlight cutting-edge strategies to tackle the competitive market.
This will be of particular focus in the new pre-conference workshop, which is open to all conference registrants, focused on leveraging digital recruiting. The hands-on workshop will consist of two parts:
Leveraging digital recruiting, Part 1: Social media
Throughout the first part of the workshop, attendees will learn best practices for different social media platforms, including Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, and others. Additionally, they will gain tips to use social media on a tight budget, develop targeted posts with the right messages posted at the right time, create impactful social media videos using your cell phone, use the analytics of each platform to optimize results, and the algorithms and other mysteries of social media.
Leveraging digital recruiting, Part 2: Programmatic advertising
The second part of the workshop will focus on how to go beyond social media and specifically target your desired market with programmatic advertising. Attendees will learn about various programmatic advertising strategies and tactics, including geofencing, native ads, and streaming TV; budget-friendly targeting techniques that deliver maximum results; how to optimize and personalize your ads to attract quality candidates; and how to engage with marketing firms with greater confidence and expertise.
Jessica L. Staats, MS, MA, culture coach, senior authority, Colorado Department of Corrections; Shandra Mutchie, recruitment coordinator, Utah Department of Corrections; Cody Thomas, public relations director, Nebraska State Patrol; and Stephen William Benson II, sergeant, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, will lead both parts of the workshop.
The workshop will set a strong foundation for the following two days of the main conference. Other highly anticipated sessions include:
A case study on reaching out to the military for new recruits with Kimberly Maki, recruitment and retention officer, and Bryan Villanueva, trooper, recruiter, from Washington State Patrol. Throughout the session, Maki and Villanueva will share their agency’s experience building a successful comprehensive military recruitment program and lessons learned. They will discuss how to engage and build relationships with nearby military bases, ways to support veterans after they are hired, and how to capitalize on veteran hires to recruit other candidates.
There will also be a session on strategies to keep your officer pipeline full. The session will explore various ways to start a strong pipeline program or enhance the one you have; real-life stories of how agencies are developing the next generation of recruits through initiatives such as internships, explorer programs, and cadet programs; and strategies for partnering with universities to reach students who are interested in law enforcement. Tiffney Lindley, sergeant, recruitment and training division, supervisor, Fayetteville Police Department, and Steven Soyka, sheriff, Stearns County Sheriff’s Office, will lead the session.
On the final day of the conference, there will be a session on preparing candidates for success, covering ways in which agencies are helping potential candidates prepare for the application, testing, and other steps of the hiring process. The session will cover the importance of interacting with candidates and making a human connection with them as well as tactics to encourage candidates to prepare and apply again, if appropriate, when they don’t succeed the first time. Speakers will include Kristen Wright-Van Meter, deputy, Thurston County Sheriff’s Office, former recruiting sergeant, Arizona Department of Public Safety; Anton Maltby, deputy, Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office; Brisa Daniel, hiring and recruitment coordinator, Surprise Police Department; and Morgan Zerbe, detective, recruiting coordinator, Pima County Sheriff’s Department.
The 15th Police Recruitment and Retention Summit will be held February 18-20, 2025 at the Horseshoe Las Vegas Event Center, with a room block at Paris Las Vegas. For more information, including the full agenda, list of speakers, and registration information, click here.