Like policing, the military has been struggling to meet recruitment goals. The Army, the largest service, has had the most trouble. And within the Army, recruitment by Special Operations Command (SOC) for psychological warfare soldiers (PSYOPS) has been even more difficult.
There are well-known special forces within SOC, such as the Green Beret and Delta Force. But the work of PSYOPS is less visible, and not always understood. According to the Army’s website, “PSYOP soldiers work in small teams to execute missions around the world. They build relationships with leaders and civilians to gain trust and influence. They also use social media, digital marketing, and pamphlets to share information meant to help shift beliefs and behaviors in the U.S. Army’s interest.”
As one Army major PSYOPS recruiter said, “We’re all nerds for sure. But we’re nerds in different ways. Usually, those who are drawn to the job are planners. They’re writers, they’re great thinkers. They’re idea people.”
Often, the major added, PSYOPS enlistees are creative, like artists or illustrators. Others are techies who can bring creative ideas to life in online messaging.
This Army major decided to target creative nerd types with tailored recruitment videos. The first, a couple of years ago, was called “Ghost in the Machine.” More recently there’s “Ghost in the Machine 2.”
According to recruiters, the first video was a success. After showing it at an Army recruitment event at The Citadel, “business was booming” at the PSYOPS table. Six months after the first video was released, more than 51% of PSYOPS recruits said the video had a medium to high influence on their decision to try for the job. That’s the goal of the second video, said the Army major who developed both.
What’s the lesson here for policing?
Consider promoting the less advertised aspects of policing instead of just the “run and gun” components. Show officers comforting a victim, processing a scene, talking to kids, attending a community forum, or, as went viral some years ago, giving boots to a homeless man.
A look at Police1’s top 10 police recruitment videos of 2023 shows some departments already doing this, but not all. A 2023 nationwide research study of 567 recruitment videos by Ryan Simpson, Ph.D., titled “Police Recruitment Videos and their Relevance for Attracting Officers,” revealed even more.
I found the results of Simpson’s study in a new resource for policing. It’s called Applied Police Briefings (APB — get it?) and it claims to be “your essential source for policing insights.” Its mission is: “Transform complex academic findings into practical, accessible knowledge.”
When I read academic articles my brain wave goes flat. For example, “Does an Option to Review Instructional Explanations Enhance Example-Based Learning? It Depends on Learners’ Academic Self-Concept.” Zzzzzzz. If someone else is willing to wade through the lingo of academic research into policing and feed it to me in “practical, accessible” bites, count me in.
According to APB, of the 567 recruitment videos analyzed in Simpson’s study:
- 66% highlighted officers driving code 3
- 64% featured officers carrying an unholstered firearm in an operational position
- 19% showcased officers conducting a gunpoint takedown
- 6% presented officers rappelling
- 67% showcased a K9 unit, often conducting a takedown
- 66% featured a SWAT demonstration
- 40% showed officers participating in a community event
- 59% displayed officers engaging with children
- 20% presented officers engaging with the elderly.
APB offered three takeaways from Simpson’s study:
- Recruitment videos are a prominent marketing tool.
- The videos reviewed highlight “the more thrilling and high-risk elements” of policing over “the more community-oriented and low-risk elements.”
- Such videos can impact who applies, the behavior of officers once hired, and their retention and satisfaction. As a result, police leaders should carefully consider the content of the videos towards those ends.
My takeaways were:
- If you sell the job as “run and gun” thrills, where you get to use force against people, who do you think is going to apply?
- If the job turns out to be more low-risk partnering with the community to prevent crime and improve public safety (i.e., community-oriented policing), the thrill seekers are going to be dissatisfied and leave, or they will inject thrill and force where it isn’t necessary.
- As important, you’ll likely miss out on hires that have the desire and propensity for effective community partnering and problem-solving, but who can also be trained in tactical safety and enforcement.
In the first PSYOPS recruitment video, the screen states “warfare is evolving.” The video goes on to promote PSYOPS, which targets not the bodies of the enemy, but their minds.
That had me picture a police recruitment video which briefly depicts a still, black-and-white image of an officer with a person in cuffs being placed into a patrol car. Then the screen reads, “Policing is evolving. It has as its target not just the bodies of the criminals, but the hearts and minds of the community.”
There follows a color video of officers engaging with their community members in varied partnerships and problem-solving.
Just thinking — which is what Simpson’s study, APB’s take on it, and the evolving challenges of policing invite us to do.
