Staffing the Mission by Safeguard Recruiting

Safeguard Recruiting
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The podcast for public safety leaders and recruiters

  1. Aug 24

    Police Recruiting Videos with Carl Kriss

    Most agencies don’t have a “video problem,” they have a recruiting funnel problem. We’re surrounded by polished content, so a glossy police recruiting video alone rarely drives real interest at the top of the funnel. What it can do, when used correctly, is help the right candidates feel trust, clarity, and momentum once they’ve raised their hand. We bring on our videographer, Carl Kriss, to unpack the documentary-style approach we use to create authentic law enforcement recruiting videos. Carl shares how his background in documentary filmmaking leads with listening first: aligning on the department’s vision, choosing the right officers to feature, running one-on-one pre-interviews, and building relationships before a camera ever comes out. That work lets the final product feel unscripted and human, not staged or salesy. We also get practical about budget and deliverables. Instead of chasing one expensive “hero” piece, we explain why today’s recruitment marketing needs a library of content: a strong website video plus multiple short 15- to 30-second clips that actually get watched on mobile. We talk about where video performs best in the hiring pipeline, how it supports follow-up through email and text, and why authenticity will matter even more as AI-generated content becomes everywhere. If you want a smarter way to use recruitment videos in public safety recruiting, listen through and take notes, then subscribe, share the show with your recruiting team, and leave a quick review. View samples of a few of our videos for clients:  Milwaukee Police Department: https://youtu.be/3X48fgpw8es Cleveland Police Department: https://youtu.be/ABLxHkNsxzs Safeguard Recruiting is owned and operated by first responders, and it is a public safety recruiting firm with a proven recruiting system that staffs agencies across the country.  Reach out today for a free consultation and learn about our guarantee that will increase the number of candidates for your agency.

  2. Aug 17

    This Police Department Needs 200 Officers and We Are Solving It

    A department is down 38% in staffing and bleeding capacity every day, and we’re not interested in band-aids. We’re kicking off a month-by-month series that shows exactly what we do to rebuild public safety staffing for a real agency that’s short by the hundreds, without naming them or turning it into a sales pitch. If you’ve been told recruiting has to be slow, expensive, and unpredictable, we explain why that’s usually a process problem, not a people problem. We start with the real first steps: getting chiefs and deputy chiefs aligned on an approach, then removing the friction that causes applicant drop-off. We talk through practical law enforcement recruitment fixes like making applications mobile friendly, eliminating forced registrations, and cutting the endless clicks that make good candidates quit halfway through. From there, we dig into recruiting data and why a clear baseline matters. When you know your conversion rate, lead volume, and where your funnel leaks, you can build a recruiting campaign that’s measurable and fixable instead of a guessing game. We also share how candidate nurturing changes everything. Consistent follow-up and automated messaging keep interested people engaged all the way to hire, without requiring recruiters to grind harder every day. We cover what it takes to launch quickly, what “month one” actually looks like inside a department, and why the total cost can be far lower than the overtime you’re already paying to cover the gap. Subscribe for the rest of this year-long journey, and if this helped, share it with a chief, recruiter, or city leader and leave a review so more departments can find a better way to staff up. Safeguard Recruiting is owned and operated by first responders, and it is a public safety recruiting firm with a proven recruiting system that staffs agencies across the country.  Reach out today for a free consultation and learn about our guarantee that will increase the number of candidates for your agency.

  3. Aug 6

    Why LAPD Is Losing Officers And How To Recruit To Fully Staffed

    LAPD is one of the most recognized police departments in the country, yet staffing has fallen to roughly 8,500 officers, the lowest level since the mid 1990s. That gap isn’t abstract. It shows up as runaway overtime, retired officers filling beats, expensive incentives, and serious questions about long-range readiness for major events like Olympics security 2028. When the public story becomes “we just need young people to apply,” we think it’s a sign the real issue is being misdiagnosed. We dig into what actually breaks a law enforcement recruiting pipeline and why so many agencies keep buying the wrong fix. A recruiting crisis doesn’t get solved by TV ads, billboards, and social media “awareness” if those tactics only produce clicks instead of qualified police applicants. We talk about the hard line between marketing and recruiting, and why any plan that can’t forecast leads, applications, and hires is just spending money on attention. From there, we get practical about what works: modernizing communication, tightening the candidate experience, and analyzing the full hiring process to find where people drop out. We also explain the 80-20 reality agencies face today, where passive candidates make the difference between “almost staffed” and fully staffed. If you’re trying to build a dependable recruiting strategy with measurable recruiting ROI, this one is built for you. If you found this useful, subscribe for more real-world public safety staffing tactics, share it with a leader who owns recruiting, and leave a quick review so more agencies can find the show. What’s the biggest bottleneck in your hiring process right now? Safeguard Recruiting is owned and operated by first responders, and it is a public safety recruiting firm with a proven recruiting system that staffs agencies across the country.  Reach out today for a free consultation and learn about our guarantee that will increase the number of candidates for your agency.

  4. Jun 5

    PLECET Conference 2026: Lessons Learned

    We come back from the PLECET conference with a reality check: no one we met is fully staffed, and the “recruiting is back” story does not match what agencies live every day. We share the simple framework we teach to stop panic spending, measure the recruiting funnel, and fix the friction that drives candidates away.  Safeguard Recruiting is owned and operated by first responders, and it is a public safety recruiting firm with a proven recruiting system that staffs agencies across the country.  Reach out today for a free consultation and learn about our guarantee that will increase the number of candidates for your agency.

  5. Jun 2

    Public Safety Recruiting: The Key To Agency Success

    This is part two of our five-year podcast special. In this episode, we break down why massive overtime budgets are a warning sign that staffing systems are failing, not a long-term fix. We lay out the numbers behind cost per hire, explain why hiring bonuses often don’t change outcomes, and share the process changes that bring more qualified candidates with less work. • Connecting overtime spend to fatigue, morale, and retention strain • Using cost-per-hire math to forecast staffing budgets • Explaining why hiring bonuses don’t consistently improve recruiting results • Setting expectations with transparency, performance guarantees, and measurable outcomes • Tracking conversion rates from candidate to applicant to hire • Recruiting Gen Z with faster, clearer, phone-first communication • Pairing recruiting with retention and wellness support through partners • Auditing the full hiring process to find where candidates drop out • Moving applications and messaging to mobile-first workflows • Cutting website touch points to reduce abandonment • Handling skepticism, change resistance, and the limits of DIY recruiting • Looking ahead to AI-driven efficiency in public safety hiring Get more information: safeguardrecruiting.com Safeguard Recruiting is owned and operated by first responders, and it is a public safety recruiting firm with a proven recruiting system that staffs agencies across the country.  Reach out today for a free consultation and learn about our guarantee that will increase the number of candidates for your agency.

  6. May 19

    Safeguard Recruiting: How Success Was Built

    We look back on the early days of Safeguard Recruiting and why Doug Larsen believes police hiring problems are mostly process problems, not a lack of interested candidates. We unpack what departments get wrong with marketing-first thinking and what changes when agencies build a real recruiting system that tracks, follows up, and removes friction.  • lessons from trucking recruiting and why high-turnover industries obsess over process  • why impressions and website hits do not translate into police hires  • early roadblocks from agencies, HR concerns, and resistance to changing tradition  • making recruiting tools accessible to small departments with limited budgets  • proof points from Larimer County, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and others  • how automation and Safeguard Connect reduce drop-off with texts, emails, and tracked communication  • removing friction like long applications, forced registration, and long silence  Safeguard Recruiting is owned and operated by first responders, and it is a public safety recruiting firm with a proven recruiting system that staffs agencies across the country.  Reach out today for a free consultation and learn about our guarantee that will increase the number of candidates for your agency.

  7. Apr 20

    Five Police Recruiting Myths Exposed

    We react to a viral set of “five things marketing companies don’t want you to know” and explain where it’s true, where it’s incomplete, and what police agencies actually need to fix hiring. We lay out the difference between exposure and applicants, why social media growth doesn’t equal recruiting success, and how a real pipeline gets departments fully staffed.  • why “you don’t need help” ignores recruiter turnover and the learning curve of professional recruiting  • the gap between impressions and real candidates who enter your hiring process  • solving staffing while still maintaining a continuous pipeline through normal attrition  • why the agency always leads on culture, message, and brand approvals  • branding vs recruiting and why followers rarely translate into applicants  • what an ad and social post audit reveals about conversion and call to action  • the back-end essentials: lead capture, communication, and tracking what works  Spread the word, share with your circle of friends or associates or peers. Safeguard Recruiting is owned and operated by first responders, and it is a public safety recruiting firm with a proven recruiting system that staffs agencies across the country.  Reach out today for a free consultation and learn about our guarantee that will increase the number of candidates for your agency.

  8. Apr 9

    Tactical Concepts Is the Answer To Hiring Retention

    We announce our new partnership with Brian Ellis of Tactical Concepts to help agencies keep more applicants moving through the law enforcement hiring process. We break down why candidates voluntarily drop out and how better education and clearer steps can push hiring conversions far beyond the 4% norm. • what Doug hears from chiefs and sheriffs about recruiting tech gaps • why agencies struggle to source candidates and maintain a healthy pipeline • how more applicant volume only matters if conversions improve • where candidates drop out most often and why anxiety drives no-shows • how “friction points” in long hiring timelines cause self-elimination • what Tactical Concepts teaches candidates about each hiring stage including polygraph preparation • why specialized partners can raise conversion without adding recruiter workload Reach out to Brian Ellis: badgeradycoach.com Safeguard Recruiting is owned and operated by first responders, and it is a public safety recruiting firm with a proven recruiting system that staffs agencies across the country.  Reach out today for a free consultation and learn about our guarantee that will increase the number of candidates for your agency.

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The podcast for public safety leaders and recruiters

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