Public Safety Workforce Initiative
Counties play a central role in recruiting, retaining and supporting the workforce that powers local public safety systems, including law enforcement and the broader justice continuum. Investing $124 billion annually in justice and public safety, counties employ a 939,000-person workforce spanning law enforcement, EMS, fire, corrections, crisis response and community supervision. Yet many counties face persistent workforce challenges that affect service delivery, system performance and community outcomes.
NACo’s Public Safety Workforce Initiative (PSWF) helps county leaders understand and address these challenges through research, peer learning and technical assistance. The initiative examines workforce dynamics across public safety systems, elevates county-driven strategies and connects counties with research and implementation partners to identify and share practical approaches that strengthen recruitment, retention and long-term workforce capacity.
Ways to Get Involved
NACo is launching the County Law Enforcement Advancing Recruitment & Retention Cohort (CLEARR Cohort) to support county law enforcement agencies in implementing and evaluating recruitment and retention strategies. Selected county law enforcement agencies will participate in a year-long cohort focused on implementing one evidence-informed recruitment or retention approach within their local context.
Participating counties will be paired with a national research partner to assess the impact of their selected strategy and better understand what is driving results. Counties will also engage with peer jurisdictions to share experiences and lessons learned. Throughout this project, counties will contribute to a growing body of knowledge about law enforcement workforce challenges and opportunities at the county level.
This project offers local leaders the opportunity to generate actionable evidence to inform future workforce investments and help shape the national conversation on law enforcement recruitment and retention practices.
The application is launching in Fall 2026, please fill out the interest form below if you would like to be notified when the application released.
Share or Request Support
Are you working to strengthen public safety workforce practices in your county? Have you implemented promising strategies to improve recruitment, retention or workforce capacity that other counties could learn from? Please share your information using the form below. NACo staff will be happy to connect with you to learn more about your efforts, discuss how you achieved success and explore opportunities to share these strategies with other counties. Please email bhjteam@naco.org if you are in need of technical assistance.
Featured Content
NACo Brief: County Innovations in Public Safety Workforce Recruitment and Retention
Recent cultural and economic changes such as competitive markets, declining applicant pools, misaligned workplace expectations, high turnover and population shifts have led to public safety workforce challenges in counties nationwide. This brief highlights innovative ways that counties are addressing recruitment and retention challenges.
ICE hiring surge challenges county law enforcement
Local governments hope that their law enforcement personnel will favor the familiarity of the communities they serve when weighing potentially lucrative immigration enforcement recruitment bonuses, which may require them to uproot their lives.
The County Landscape Project: Service Provision and the Public Workforce
Counties are vital to the foundation of our communities, helping shape the places where we live, work and thrive. From maintaining critical infrastructure and delivering essential public services to fostering economic growth and ensuring public safety, county governments play a pivotal role in the daily lives of millions of Americans.
Mutual aid network joins county and municipalities to assess damage
Waukesha County, Wis. has pooled, trained and coordinated staff from its municipalities to deploy after a disaster and start the recovery process.
DEA announces temporary scheduling of synthetic kratom substances
On July 1, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) filed two Notices of Intent to temporarily place highly concentrated and synthetic kratom-related substances into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. Additionally, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) issued a Request for Information seeking public comment on scientific data on the proposed threshold level.
NACo endorses bipartisan legislation to help volunteer first responders access affordable housing
On June 10, Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) reintroduced the Volunteer First Responder Housing Act (S.4737), bipartisan legislation that would help qualified volunteer first responders access affordable housing.
Firefighter and First Responder Grants Now Open for Counties
On May 18, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), announced $648 million in grant funding for firefighters and other first responders nationwide.
New Law Brings Long-Sought Transparency to FEMA Disaster Reimbursements
A new federal law requires FEMA to publish a publicly accessible, interactive dashboard tracking all Public Assistance reimbursement requests, giving counties unprecedented visibility into disaster recovery funding.