Purpose of the project: maintaining the staffing levels needed to adequately serve communities and protect public safety is one of the biggest challenges facing law enforcement agencies today

The Research Triangle Institute (RTI) was awarded a $925,357 Project Grant from the Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs National Institute of Justice under the National Institute of Justice Research, Evaluation, and Development Project Grants program (CFDA 16.560). The grant will fund RTI's project to advance science and practice on law enforcement retention through January 2025.

Key activities under the award include conducting an in-depth study of 12 law enforcement agencies engaged in the 30x30 Initiative to identify drivers of officer turnover. RTI will develop evidence-based stay and exit interview guides for agencies, help agencies prioritize retention solutions through an officer survey, analyze administrative data to forecast attrition, and test promising retention practices. Expected outcomes are recommendations to improve engagement assessments, dissemination of survey findings on valued incentives, support for minority officer careers, agency interview protocols and guides, and a report on implementing new strategies. Findings aim to strengthen law enforcement agencies and communities through improved officer retention.

Expected outcomes

Through this project, the research team will (1) provide recommendations on how to ascertain officers' honest perspectives on engagement and retention and what to do with that information; (2) disseminate findings from the stated preference survey on specific retention incentives officers value most and how participants make tradeoffs among strategy and incentive offerings; (3) identify issues and corresponding solutions important for supporting prospective and current minority officers throughout their careers; (4) provide agencies with stay interview and exit interview protocols and corresponding how-to guides; and (5) disseminate a practitioner-focused report on implementing and evaluating new retention strategies. The project will result in multiple manuscripts on innovative methodologies for examining officer retention. Service area: the project will conduct an in-depth study of 12 agencies engaged in the 30X30 initiative (baltimore police department, dallas police department, and 10 others that vary along key dimensions like region or agency type).

Intended beneficiaries

The findings and deliverables of this project are intended to guide efforts to improve engagement and retention and support agency staff diversity for all police agencies in the united states. Note: this project contains a research and/or development component, as defined in applicable law,"" and complies with part 200 uniform requirements - 2 CFR 200.210(a)(14). CA/NCF