The negative publicity generated by police killings is making recruitment a challenge for many law enforcement agencies, which can increase liability costs, experts say. 

Police recruitment is in crisis, said Jeb Brown, senior counsel with Liebert Cassidy Whitmore in Los Angeles, who represents public entities. 

“People that might otherwise become officers are looking at other opportunities,” he said. “That’s just a reality of today’s environment.” 

“Every agency that I’m aware of certainly has a deficit of 10% to 20% of officers” for whom positions have been authorized, but they can’t find suitable candidates for the positions, Mr. Brown said. 

“Departments are having a heck of a time filling vacancies,” said Scott MacLatchie, a partner with Hall Booth Smith LLP in Charlotte, North Carolina. 

The candidate shortage puts pressure on departments’ operational controls, training and support, said Lindsay Cunningham, Seattle-based North American public sector and education industry division leader for Willis Towers Watson PLC. 

Departments cannot replace officers who leave for training, which creates a personnel shortfall and other issues such as fatigue, which can negatively affect decision-making, Mr. Brown said. “All of those issues lead to liability.” 

Some law enforcement agencies are offering signing, housing or childcare bonuses to attract recruits, he said.

Ms. Cunningham said that in some cases counties have made mutual aid agreements with other counties to provide additional police manpower if needed. 

The personnel shortage raises the issue of whether police departments may be lowering their hiring standards, Mr. Brown said. 

In addition to state law that establishes standards as to who can be hired, “everyone knows that if you start reducing standards, there is likely to be negative consequences,” he said.

Mark Dillard, president of Richardson-based Public Risk Underwriters of Texas, said that while compromising their standards is not desirable, “some are having to, to some extent, to help fill the vacancies and put people on patrol.”