Police recruiting improves but attrition in first year remains a concern, commanders tell subcommittee
Loading...
Summary
Recruitment and academy class sizes rose in 2025 after process changes and outreach, but presenters said roughly 30% attrition across academy and early field-training cohorts remains a challenge; staff described retention work and increased community-based recruitment.
City police commanders reported stronger application and hiring counts in 2025 and larger academy classes but said attrition in the academy and early field-training remains an area of concern that the department is addressing through targeted supports and outreach.
A recruiting briefing described rising applications after process improvements introduced in mid-2024 and expanded community-focused outreach. Presenters said January 2025 saw a peak in hires and that, year-to-date through mid-2025, the department had already exceeded the total number of applications received in all of 2024. The briefing also showed larger academy classes in 2025 (a class peaked at 45 recruits) and increased retention in training: academy retention was reported at 92% in 2025 versus 81% in 2024; field training retention (OIT) was reported at 91% in 2025 versus 69% in 2024.
The nut graf: commanders credited outreach, community-based recruiting and process improvements for increased applications and hires, but noted the department still sees significant attrition among recruits during the academy and in the first year on the job; commanders said they are expanding pre-hire riding opportunities, adding writing instruction and conducting exit outreach to identify and slow avoidable departures.
The recruiting team said applicants this year more closely match Maricopa County and city demographics and that the department is pursuing targeted efforts to increase women applicants and hires. Commanders also reported 101 recruits in the academy as of Aug. 27 and planned additional classes; staff said the sworn field count stood at about 2,636 filled positions (including recruits) with roughly 489 vacancies as of August 2025 (figures provided in the briefing).
Commanders described exit-interview findings: the most common academy attrition reasons were categorized as personal reasons (family, relocation, military service), rule violations and firearms concerns; early-field attrition reasons most often cited were personal reasons and job-performance or transitional struggles such as report-writing. Commander Leif Myers and his colleague said they now slow immediate departures for recruits who cite personal reasons by offering time to reconsider and family conversations — an intervention several speakers said has helped retain some recruits.
Ending: The department said it will continue community-centered recruitment, create more ride-along and pre-hire exposure opportunities, add targeted support (for example, writing classes) and continue exit-interview work to reduce early attrition; no formal action was taken by the subcommittee.
