BOSTON — Two officers from the Miami (Fla.) Police Department delivered a high-energy, dynamic presentation on Miami’s recruitment success to a standing-room-only crowd of law enforcement leaders at the IACP 2024 conference.
The presenters, Major Um Set Ramos, who was once in charge of the department’s social media unit, and Officer Nicholas Perez, used numerous examples and tips to entertain, inspire and inform an audience that will increase new officer applications.
In late 2021 Miami had 59 vacancies. A year later, after the department’s most successful staffing campaign, the department had 74 vacancies. A new chief asked Perez, a founder of the department’s social media unit, to create a new recruitment video. Perez didn’t want to follow a standard recruitment video format and instead wanted to give the video a Miami-vibe, which led to the Miami Police Rick Roll video, with electronic dance music, video game style graphics and the infamous song “Never Gonna Give You Up.”
The video features genuine, heartfelt testimonials from citizens throughout the city, as well as stereotypical elements of a recruitment video like SWAT, K-9, and motorcycle, marine, bomb squad, aviation and mounted patrol units.
The video made an immediate impact: “We had 250,000 views, worldwide recognition and 1,000 applicants in 12 hours,” Perez said.
Key takeaways
Nearly every attendee in this session on police recruitment strategies affirmed that their agency is struggling with officer recruitment and retention. Here are three ways departments can change recruitment and retention success by using social video.
1. Build interest: The Miami Police Department teased the “Rick Roll” recruitment video with a trailer and Q&A live streams on their social media platforms. They’ve learned that livestream interaction converts people into applicants.
“It doesn’t happen all of a sudden,” Perez said. “If you haven’t created community within your social media platforms, then you won’t succeed.”
2. Ask supporters to participate and share: Miami PD, like many departments, has regular commentors and livestream participants. Some of those people have large social media followings. Miami invited some of those people to be a part of the video, which led to those people also sharing the video to their social media communities.
3. Consistent content strategy: A great video isn’t enough. The presenters explained how to use short- and long-form content year-round to build community and reach potential prospects. Some of the content Perez and Ramos discussed included:
- Long-form videos: Perez believes that 15- to 30-minute YouTube videos are the best way to reach people. Getting one-on-one attention is invaluable and powerful. Miami was the first department to have a vlog that showcased “officers, culture, the jurisdiction and organic down-to-earth conversation. People love the behind-the-scenes stuff,” Perez said. Watch Miami vlogs on YouTube.
Recruitment and hiring usually aren’t the focus of vlog episodes, but recruitment messages can be organically inserted into videos once you have a viewer’s attention.
- Short-form videos: Public service announcements can be quick and attention-grabbing. Perez showed two PSA videos to provide urgent and compelling information to the community. Those videos are informative but also communicate the department’s priorities. “If you see something your community can benefit from, get in front of the camera and share it with them,” Perez said. “They’ll appreciate it.”
Short-form videos that highlight and personalize sworn and civilian personnel can help the department deliver its mission, interact with the public and retain high performers. “Make them feel appreciated and part of the solution,” Ramos said. A humorous, light-hearted singing video and National Night Out chief in the dunk tank showed the human side of department personnel.
Here are a few other video types that were discussed:
- Advisories on road closures, severe weather or crime trends
- Participation in social media trends
- Figurehead reports or host-led Q&A sessions
- Public relations and community outreach
These video types can help a department “jump the algorithm and gain audience” so when the time comes for a recruitment video you already have a built-in audience.
