New Blue Cofounder/ Teach For America VP Andy
Saunders Joined a Panel of Subject Matter Experts to Discuss
Recruitment, Retention and Generation Z
WICHITA,
Kan., April 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Bureau
of Justice Assistance convened top practitioners in the policing
field, academics, and other stakeholders on April 16-17 at
Wichita State University for the
Criminal Justice Workforce of the Future Convening. Building on
BJA's Recruitment & Retention roundtable last year, the
convening aimed to address an assessment of workforce and career
pipelines in criminal justice, and create new strategies for
recruitment and retention.
"In order to recruit the next generation,
police departments will have to align their culture with Gen Z
values."
Recruitment and retention in policing has been an
increasingly difficult task in recent years, with public perception
of policing impacting interest in the profession, coupled with the
inherent strains of the job itself. Traditional operating standards
within a police department do not align with the values and ideals
of the incoming generation of workers.
Addressing this issue head-on, BJA Director Karhlton Moore facilitated a panel on Redefining
Criminal Justice Workforces and Roles; with an Emphasis on Culture,
Inclusion, and Access to Justice. Panelists New Blue Co-founder and
CEO/ Teach For America Vice President of Early Talent Andy Saunders, Chief Sonia Quinones (Ret.), Deputy Director of the
DOJ Office for Access to Justice Christina
Smith, and Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice/Former
Amazon Global Chief Diversity Equity Inclusion Officer Marcia Thompson discussed the importance of
building an organizational culture that supports equity, culture
change, and improved recruitment and retention practices.
"Generation Z is entering the workforce with a completely different
mindset than generations past," said Saunders, a former police
officer who co-founded New Blue with Detective Brittany Nestor in the aftermath of George Floyd's murder to address
police-community trust. "In order to recruit the next generation,
police departments will have to align their culture with the values
of Gen Z- values of mental health, flexibility, diversity and skill
development. Either Gen Z can change or police departments can
change- we have to think about what's in our locus of control."
While many police departments may be resistant to change, Thompson
said we must encourage the "latitude to create a new role –
beginning with a cultural assessment: how do people feel at work?
How do we change things? Who do we hire? Who do we elevate?"
Saunders added, "Mental health, schedule flexibility, latticed
career moves – these are things that are good for all of us.
Previous generations put up with it. Gen Z is not going to."
To that end, New Blue recently announced their cross-departmental
Recruitment Task Force for police recruiters, in partnership with
the 30x30 Initiative. The Task Force will challenge police
recruiters to align their department's practices, culture, and
operations with the values and perspectives of the newest
generation of workers and existing top talent —a critical step in
modernizing the profession and addressing recruitment
challenges.
For more information, contact Kristin
Daley at kristin@newblue.org or 781-443-2027
New Blue is an incubator for forward-thinking
police to collaborate with their communities, developing solutions
that build trust through policy and practice.
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SOURCE New Blue