Challenges and opportunities of improving retention in law enforcement

Abstract

Aim: Strengthening and improving retention capacity of law enforcement organisations is one of the most challenging task at local, regional and national levels. The focus of our study is presentation and analysis of the opinions of staff leaving Tolna County Police Headquarters. With the results of the analysis we would like to contribute to the development of the retention of police officers in law enforcement agencies.
Methodology: Since September 2019, nationwide data has been collected by conducting exit interviews to learn the reasons why comission and noncommission officers leave the organization. Completing the findings of the available Hungarian and English literature on police turnover with primary research, we processed the data of 42 exit interviews conducted at the Tolna County Police Headquarters between September 2019 and December 2021.
Findings: With help of the data from the exit interviews, it is possible to find out the age breakdowns of the respondents, time spent in the organisation, and reasons that most influence their leaving, as well as the opinion of the departing officers about police service and its circumstances. Based on the data of the exit interviews, it can be stated that the proportion of younger and older respondents are similar, almost half of the respondents had more than 10 years of professional relationship with the law enforcement organisation. The decision to leave was mainly influenced by the high workload, unpredictable difficult-to-plan work schedule, social perception of the organization and the dissatisfaction with their salary. However, there are also differences between the reasons for leaving according to age group and according to time spent in the organisation.
Value: We make conclusions and suggestions about the possibility of retaining staff of different generations, which can be valuable for the whole police organization.