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A new report from Accenture states that the "public safety landscape is transforming at speed and scale, requiring police forces to develop new workforce strategies, structures and skills."  

The research firm said that "law enforcement agencies will need to develop a more agile workforce and rely on an increasingly expanded ecosystem of partners—to both provide traditional reactive policing services and accelerate the shift to a more preventative policing model."

The report said that new technologies have the potential to fundamentally change work and how it is performed—therefore, a new type of workforce will be necessary.

Police will need to "harness the power of machines to release officers from repetitive tasks and equip the workforce with the right skills to progress towards effective collaboration between technologies and people."

Addressing the ongoing recruiting crisis for many police agencies across the country, Accenture said that "the motivations of today’s workforce have been transformed." Consequently law enforcement agencies will have to think about defining work in a way that attracts and retains the resources they need.

"We propose that the future police workforce will consist of a strategic nucleus directing and leading a core police workforce that is supplemented and enhanced by a broad ecosystem of workforce, partners, and the public," the report said.