An Examination of Recruiting and Selection Practices to Promote Diversity for Colorado State Troopers

By Tracy C. Krueger, Sean Robson, Kirsten M. Keller

A guiding tenet of community policing is that trust and mutual respect between law enforcement and communities will more effectively address long-standing and complex public safety issues. One strategy to help establish such confidence is for law enforcement to adequately represent the demographic characteristics of the community it serves. Working to achieve this strategy can be challenging, however, because not everyone will be aware of, qualified for, or interested in a law enforcement career. The Colorado State Patrol (CSP) seeks to better reflect the demographic representation of the state of Colorado. This report offers an exploratory examination of how CSP's recruiting and selection policies and procedures relate to that objective. By integrating a review of CSP documents, interviews with CSP experts, and research and industry best practices, the authors identified potential barriers to diversity in CSP's early career stages and provide recommendations to mitigate and remove these barriers. This work is meant to act as a preliminary road map to assist CSP's future efforts in diversifying the demographic representation of its workforce. Barriers to diversity include the composition of the current workforce, the nature of the job, relocation requirements, and the lengthy hiring process. Recommendations include assessing propensity to apply, determining why applicants drop out, adjusting application windows, exploring strategies to shorten background investigations, and providing a realistic job preview.

Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2019, 26p.