The massive image problem of the Seattle Police Department put recruiting levels at rock bottom. For the sake of public safety, the SPD needed to attract more applicants as quickly as humanly possible.
The city’s need for an image overhaul of what an SPD officer looks like was truly urgent. Everyone has a stereotypical view of what it means to be a cop and what they do every day. And as a result, few considering their next career move see “police officer” when they look in the mirror.
We changed perceptions by showcasing the variety of ways Seattle police officers can make a positive daily impact on their communities. We designed All Clear – Stories of the Seattle Police Department as a first-of-its-kind recruiting campaign, breaking from traditional police advertising to create a long-form animated video series that would resonate deeply with audiences on platforms they already engage with. Structured in the style of true crime, each episode takes a cinematic approach to real SPD cases, delivering high-stakes narratives that reveal the humanity, bravery, and impact behind the badge.
The series featured three episodes, each with a different SPD specialty officer and case. “The Rescue” follows a Harbor Patrol officer’s effort to save a drowning man. “The Negotiation” focuses on a Crisis Response officer managing a tense hostage situation, while “First on the Scene” depicts a new Patrol officer saving an overdose victim on a public bus. To capture the emotional intensity of these stories, we combined true crime storytelling with high-quality animation and graphic art that bring each scene vividly to life. The series was distributed on YouTube and Meta, and supported by shorter teasers and audio narratives, including placements on popular true-crime podcasts, meeting audiences where they naturally engage with this genre.
The All Clear campaign achieved unprecedented results, proving that purpose-driven storytelling can be a powerful recruiting tool.
As a key tentpole component of our yearlong recruiting campaign, All Clear contributed to an overall 244% increase in daily officer applications and 242% increase in visits to SPDjobs.com YOY. New officer applications are currently the highest they have been in the past decade.
