Seattle police on pace to lose more officers than it gains in 2024

SEATTLE — The Seattle Police Department said Monday that it will lose more officers this year than it gains.

In 2024, the department had 40 departures and only gained 15, and is projecting more separations than hires this year. The revised projection is that there will only be 918 deployable officers by the end of the year, despite an increase in base pay and $30,000 signing bonuses.

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“The challenge is the recruitment piece,” said Council Public Safety Chair Bob Kettle, in an interview with KOMO News. “There’s a time delay in terms of the applications coming through becoming sworn officers. That takes time.”

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has been pushing for the city to accept different testing methods in order to speed up the recruiting procedures. But last week, the Public Safety Civil Service Commission (PSCSC) suggested staying the course.

We’re in a police staffing crisis. It is incredibly disappointing that the PSCSC concluded that [the] Public Safety Test (PST) is not a valid exam option for the City of Seattle and did not complete an independent validation study to determine if another entry-level exam would meet our needs and maintain high standards. The PSCSC report indicates that PST declined to participate in their review, yet the PSCSC report also concludes that the PST test is flawed despite this information gap and despite PST expressing interest in partnering with Seattle. We reject PSCSC’s unsubstantiated conclusions. The PST is used by more than 140 law enforcement agencies in our state, including all our university and tribal police services and all the state agencies. Less than a dozen agencies in Washington use the other testing service,” said Harrel’s office in a statement.

In addition, Seattle is competing with other major American cities for staff. Portland, San Diego, Phoenix, and Los Angeles have all reported shortages and longer wait times for calls.

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In an interview with KOMO News, Los Angeles Police Chief Dominic Choi said New York and Chicago have more than 4 cops per 1000 people, and his department is at roughly 2.1 for every 1000. Choi said, “Salary-wise, we're competitive. We just need to get people in the door and stay with us and make LAPD the most attractive local agency.”