Law enforcement agencies across the nation have struggled with recruitment and retention for years; Texas and even the Greater Houston Area have been no exception to this issue, and efforts to address it continue.
Missouri City is now considering raising its signing bonus to boost recruitment—something the Pearland and Galveston Police Departments have already done.
Ray Hunt with the Houston Police Officers’ Association says their new contract with the City, which significantly boosted their pay, went a long way towards solving their recruitment issues. According to him: “We, for the first time in the history of the Houston Police Department, have 5,500 officers. Partly because of recruiting, and because we have fewer people who are retiring.”
Hunt added that departments wanting to boost recruitment and retention but without the same resources to raise pay as the City of Houston can still go a long way by taking steps to ensure strong morale. “You have to have a decent command staff, a decent chief, and you have to have a decent City Manager, Sheriff, or Police Chief. When you have that kind of support, you’ll have people who want to be there.”