FY23 Mississippi SJS Program

The Mississippi Statistical Analysis Center (MS-SAC) proposes a project entitled "Strategies for Police Recruitment and Retention in Mississippi".  This project seeks to make a substantial contribution to the growing national dialogue about police personnel recruitment and retention, capitalizing on existing strengths within the MS-SAC which will allow data collected in this project to expand capacity within the state on best practices and strategies directed to police recruitment and retention.  Since 2015, the MS-SAC has been concerned with existing workforce stability in all Mississippi criminal justice institutions, starting with the 2018 Mississippi Law Enforcement Census and expanding scope to include correctional facilities, drug courts, and police detective bureaus.  Still in 2023, the issue of police recruitment remains the focus of many national and international research efforts.  The MS-SAC proposal seeks to investigate an area where other projects have failed to disclose data, one that the state of Mississippi's police and sheriff community is uniquely positioned to share: the impact of the recruiting crisis on rural policing environments.