Seattle increases police hiring bonus to $50,000

Mayor Harrell and the Council argue the incentive for experienced officers — now the highest in the region — is necessary to compete for applicants.

the backs of police recruits standing in a room

New police recruits train at Washington’s Criminal Justice Training Center in Burien, April 2, 2024. (Genna Martin/Cascade PBS)

The Seattle City Council voted 6 to 1 on Tuesday to increase hiring bonuses for experienced police officers to $50,000 and make the incentive program permanent.

Councilmember Tammy Morales voted no. Councilmembers Joy Hollingsworth and Cathy Moore were absent.  

The current iteration of the Seattle Police Department’s bonus program has been in place since July 2022 to address staffing shortages. It provided a hiring bonus of up to $30,000 to experienced officers from other departments, known as lateral hires, and $7,500 for new recruits. The program was set to end at the close of 2024. 

The mayor and Council have argued that the increased bonuses are necessary to compete with Seattle’s neighbors for a limited pool of potential applicants.  

“We need to be able to compete with neighboring jurisdiction[s] when it comes to attracting applications to Seattle Police Departments,” said Council President Sara Nelson at Tuesday’s meeting. “We’re talking about growing our pool of applicants, so we are in the position of hiring the best of the best.” 

In her opposition to the increased bonuses, Morales expressed concern about privileging SPD over all other city workers and about doing so while grappling with a $250 million budget deficit.  

“Permanently offering $50,000 in hiring bonuses to SPD is fiscally irresponsible in a year where we are facing a major budget deficit,” said Morales Tuesday. “And at the same time this council is offering $50,000 in hiring bonuses to lateral recruits, the mayor’s budget cuts over $400,000 in funding to the Office of Police Accountability.” 

Under the new legislation, sent to the Council by Mayor Bruce Harrell, a lateral hire would get a bonus of $50,000, making Seattle’s bonus the highest in the region. The bonus for new hires would remain $7,500.  

Des Moines and Mercer Island were the region’s previous highest spenders on recruiting, with $40,000 bonuses for lateral hires. At least 14 other cities, county sheriff departments and the Washington State Patrol offer lateral hiring bonuses between $10,000 and $30,000.  

The bonus program is estimated to cost the city $1.5 million each year. That cost will be paid with “salary savings” from existing SPD vacancies and is already factored into the Mayor’s proposed 2025-2026 budget. 

A lateral hire and new recruits would receive half the hiring bonus in their first paycheck. To receive the full bonus, they must stay at SPD for at least five years. The new legislation prorates the bonus to the number of years served if an officer leaves before the five-year mark. 

During a Sept. 23 committee meeting, Councilmember Bob Kettle said his understanding of the legislation was that $50,000 was the maximum for the bonus and that the chief of police would have discretion to pay different bonus amounts depending on a lateral hire’s experience. A Council staff policy analyst said they shared that interpretation, but pointed out that nothing in the legislation addresses how much the bonus should pay.  

Asked for clarification, a mayoral spokesperson said that all lateral hires will receive the full $50,000 bonus if they stay at least five years and that the program will last “until the SPD staffing crisis has been addressed, there is a shift in policy or the allotted budget has been exhausted.” 

Seattle, like many cities locally and across the country, saw an exodus of police officers during the pandemic and has struggled to refill its ranks. Pre-pandemic, SPD had nearly 1,400 officers, but now has a little over 1,000 trained officers.  

The hiring bonuses target sworn officers from other jurisdictions because trained, experienced officers can start working in the field far faster than a new recruit who must go through training.  

Applications for entry-level SPD officer positions have increased significantly this year, with 446 applications in July, up from 218 in January this year. It is the first time since January 2020 there have been over 400 applications in a month. But lateral applications have lagged.  

During the city’s last police exam cycle, SPD received an average of one lateral hire application per day. In prior exam cycles the average was less than one every two days. There are about seven exam cycles per year in Seattle.  

In May, the City Council voted to approve a new union contract with the Seattle Police Officers Guild that increased entry-level SPD office salaries to $103,000, the highest of any police department in Washington.  

The new $50,000 bonuses will take effect 30 days after the mayor signs the legislation.

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