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Procurement SupportFor: Command Staff, Budget Officers

ROI Proposal Template

Pre-formatted cost-justification document for command staff and budget officers. Complements the online ROI calculator with print-ready budget justification language.

This template provides a structured cost-justification document for command staff presenting behavioral screening investment to budget authorities. It complements the interactive ROI Calculator with print-ready language suitable for budget committee presentations, council briefings, and internal procurement justification.

TO: [Budget Authority / City Council / Board of Supervisors]

FROM: [Chief of Police / Department Head]

SUBJECT: Budget Justification, Pre-Offer Behavioral Screening Platform

DATE: [Date]


Executive Summary

This memorandum requests approval for a $4,900 annual subscription to a pre-offer behavioral screening platform for use in the [Agency Name] peace officer hiring pipeline. The platform collects structured biographical and behavioral history data from applicants before the conditional offer stage and produces an investigative brief that enables background investigators to conduct targeted, risk-informed investigations rather than open-ended discovery.

Problem Statement

[Agency Name] currently processes approximately [XX] peace officer applicants per year. The background investigation phase consumes an average of [XX] investigator hours per applicant. Of those applicants, approximately [XX]% are ultimately disqualified at the psychological evaluation or background investigation stages, after the agency has invested full investigative resources.

Industry data indicates that 15% to 30% of law enforcement applicants are found psychologically unsuitable at the post-conditional-offer stage (Sources: NY DOCCS 2025 Annual Report, 30.3% unsuitability rate; practitioner consensus, 15-20% range). Each late-stage disqualification represents [XX] hours of investigator time invested in an applicant who will not be hired.

Proposed Solution

Deploy a pre-offer behavioral screening instrument at the earliest stage of the hiring pipeline, immediately upon application submission. The instrument:

  • Collects biographical data in the pre-conditional-offer legal space (ADA compliant, CCR 1953(d) compliant)
  • Produces a risk-prioritized investigative brief for trained background investigators
  • Enables investigators to begin with structured findings rather than a blank slate
  • Does not replace the post-offer psychological evaluation; complements it

Financial Analysis

Line ItemAmount
Annual platform subscription$4,900
Per-applicant cost ([XX] applicants/year)$[XX]
Estimated investigator hours saved per late-stage disqualification avoided[XX] hours
Estimated late-stage disqualifications avoided per year[XX]
Investigator hourly rate (loaded)$[XX]
Estimated annual investigator cost savings$[XX]

Use the interactive ROI Calculator to generate agency-specific figures. The calculator uses documented training cost data from the Force Science Institute and the National Police Foundation.

Risk Mitigation

Beyond the direct cost savings from investigator time reclamation, pre-offer behavioral screening provides a documented risk mitigation benefit. Municipalities that can demonstrate a structured, pre-offer screening process may reduce potential exposure to "negligent hiring" and "failure to properly vet" claims in the event of post-hire misconduct.

Documented misconduct liability payouts in major U.S. jurisdictions ranged from $107.5 million (Chicago, 2024) to $206 million (New York City, 2024) in a single year. The marginal cost of a $4,900 pre-offer screening investment is immaterial relative to this scale of liability exposure.

Recommendation

Approve the $4,900 annual subscription for pre-offer behavioral screening. The investment represents less than 5% of the cost of a single officer training washout and less than 0.005% of the annual misconduct liability exposure experienced by comparably sized departments.


Prepared by: ___________________________

Approved by: ___________________________

Date: ___________________________

Acquisition support

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Review screening workflow, report structure, procurement fit, and deployment requirements with the Forevue team.