We come back from the PLECET conference with a reality check: no one we met is fully staffed, and the “recruiting is back” story does not match what agencies live every day. We share the simple framework we teach to stop panic spending, measure the recruiting funnel, and fix the friction that drives candidates away.

Safeguard Recruiting is owned and operated by first responders, and it is a public safety recruiting firm with a proven recruiting system that staffs agencies across the country.

Reach out today for a free consultation and learn about our guarantee that will increase the number of candidates for your agency.

This is part two of our five-year podcast special. In this episode, we break down why massive overtime budgets are a warning sign that staffing systems are failing, not a long-term fix. We lay out the numbers behind cost per hire, explain why hiring bonuses often don’t change outcomes, and share the process changes that bring more qualified candidates with less work.
• Connecting overtime spend to fatigue, morale, and retention strain
• Using cost-per-hire math to forecast staffing budgets
• Explaining why hiring bonuses don’t consistently improve recruiting results
• Setting expectations with transparency, performance guarantees, and measurable outcomes
• Tracking conversion rates from candidate to applicant to hire
• Recruiting Gen Z with faster, clearer, phone-first communication
• Pairing recruiting with retention and wellness support through partners
• Auditing the full hiring process to find where candidates drop out
• Moving applications and messaging to mobile-first workflows
• Cutting website touch points to reduce abandonment
• Handling skepticism, change resistance, and the limits of DIY recruiting
• Looking ahead to AI-driven efficiency in public safety hiring

Get more information: safeguardrecruiting.com

Safeguard Recruiting is owned and operated by first responders, and it is a public safety recruiting firm with a proven recruiting system that staffs agencies across the country.

Reach out today for a free consultation and learn about our guarantee that will increase the number of candidates for your agency.

We look back on the early days of Safeguard Recruiting and why Doug Larsen believes police hiring problems are mostly process problems, not a lack of interested candidates. We unpack what departments get wrong with marketing-first thinking and what changes when agencies build a real recruiting system that tracks, follows up, and removes friction.

• lessons from trucking recruiting and why high-turnover industries obsess over process
• why impressions and website hits do not translate into police hires
• early roadblocks from agencies, HR concerns, and resistance to changing tradition
• making recruiting tools accessible to small departments with limited budgets
• proof points from Larimer County, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and others
• how automation and Safeguard Connect reduce drop-off with texts, emails, and tracked communication
• removing friction like long applications, forced registration, and long silence

Safeguard Recruiting is owned and operated by first responders, and it is a public safety recruiting firm with a proven recruiting system that staffs agencies across the country.

Reach out today for a free consultation and learn about our guarantee that will increase the number of candidates for your agency.