Research SummaryScrutiny over the quality of police work continues to increase, at the same time that a recruitment crisis may hinder policing services. Moreover, this crisis exists despite numerous work incentives for officers, which are potentially competitive salaries, early pensions, and legal protections. Using a sample of 604 undergraduate students—a natural recruiting pool for police agencies—this study explores the predictors of students’ interest in a career in policing. In addition, we conducted a randomized survey experiment to identify the effect of work incentives on students’ willingness to apply to be a police officer upon graduation. Specifically, we manipulated the starting salary, years of service until pension eligibility, and the protection afforded against lawsuits. Finally, we tested whether the effect of these incentives differs across the quality of applicants (i.e., grade point average [GPA], ability to pass existing application criteria, and subjective qualities that comprise honesty, teamwork, and compassion) and their preexisting interest in a career in policing. We found that students are generally uninterested in becoming police officers, particularly when their GPA is high. Though the starting salary was the most impactful of all incentives, some lawsuit protection is key for enticing the best students. In contrast, conditions for pension had only modest if any effects.Policy ImplicationsRecruiting is key to improving the quality of policing, particularly when many potential candidates are overlooking the career. However, research on the causes and consequences of police recruitment strategies is limited. This study implements rigorous research methods to investigate how to increase the pool of high‐quality applicants to police agencies. Findings support sensible and potentially cost‐effective policy decisions in regard to police recruiting, which should focus on increasing the starting salary, and on more effectively communicating the value of other existing benefits of the career that comprise lawsuit protection and attractive pension plans.

中文翻译：

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通报警务招聘危机：评估哪些激励措施可以吸引大学生中最优秀的候选人

研究摘要对警察工作质量的审查不断加强，同时招聘危机可能会阻碍警务服务。此外，尽管对官员有许多工作激励措施，包括潜在有竞争力的工资、提前退休金和法律保护，但这场危机仍然存在。这项研究以 604 名本科生为样本（警察机构的自然招募人才库），探讨了学生对警务职业兴趣的预测因素。此外，我们还进行了一项随机调查实验，以确定工作激励对学生毕业后申请成为警察的意愿的影响。具体来说，我们操纵了起薪、领取养老金资格之前的服务年限以及针对诉讼的保护。最后，我们测试了这些激励措施的效果是否因申请者的素质（即平均绩点 [GPA]、通过现有申请标准的能力以及包括诚实、团队合作和同情心在内的主观品质）以及他们先前存在的兴趣而有所不同。从事警务工作。我们发现学生普遍对成为警察不感兴趣，尤其是当他们的 GPA 较高时。尽管起薪是所有激励措施中影响最大的，但一些诉讼保护是吸引最优秀学生的关键。相比之下，养老金条件即使有影响，也只是微乎其微。 政策含义 招聘是提高警务质量的关键，特别是当许多潜在候选人忽视了这一职业时。然而，对警察招募策略的原因和后果的研究有限。本研究采用严格的研究方法来调查如何增加警察机构的高质量申请人库。研究结果支持在警察招募方面做出明智且具有潜在成本效益的政策决策，这些决策应侧重于提高起薪，并更有效地传达职业生涯其他现有福利的价值，包括诉讼保护和有吸引力的养老金计划。