As with other businesses and organizations across the country, employee turnover is a significant challenge facing the Fort Worth Police Department.

By the numbers: When comparing turnover rates for the rank of police officer among 14 Texas cities, the City of Fort Worth ranks fourth lowest, according to a recent survey conducted by the City’s HR Department. The City has a relatively low turnover rate for the police officer rank at almost 14% below the market median, the survey indicates.

That said, to mitigate their current attrition rate, the department is implementing strategies to increase the number of recruits in each academy class.

One strategy: In collaboration with City Council, the department has increased the starting pay for rookie officers to make the job more attractive and the salary more competitive. That figure stands at $66,593 for FY2023.

“We believe this approach will improve retention rates and contribute to the long-term success of our recruitment and retention efforts,” Cpl. Joshua Johnson said.

Diversification can also help keep employees at a company or an organization. A large part of many employers’ current efforts to retain employees is by diversifying their teams to ensure equal opportunity to different cultures, religions, ethnicities, abilities and other groups.

By the numbers: Fort Worth has a diverse population and having a diverse police department to reflect and represent the entire community helps build trust and confidence. Additionally, having diversity in any workforce can lead to increasingly streamlined approaches to problem-solving and improved communication amongst team members.

Why? The department assessed the need to diversify through analyzing demographics and data from the current workforce which included:  

• Conducting surveys.
• Focus groups to gather feedback from employees and community members.
• Reviewing best practices of diversity and inclusion in law enforcement.

The bottom line: While there isn’t a specific timeline for the department to diversify, they are making concrete plans to build a more diverse and inclusive workforce. Their goal is to create diversity within the department, improve community relations, enhance cultural awareness and increase the department's ability to recruit and retain talented employees from varied backgrounds.