Low salary limits police officer recruitment in Seattle despite bonus offers, report says
SEATTLE — The Seattle Police Department (SPD) said comparatively low wages have hurt recruiting efforts, and worked against a program to offer $30,000 bonuses to attract officers.
In a presentation, already publicly available, the department notes that staffing is at its lowest level since the 1990s even though the city has grown. The same report also suggests that interviews with recruits list the pay as the biggest issue, ahead of any incentives.
The report said that Seattle is 15th in pay for entry-level officers when compared to cities like Redmond and Kent. Redmond is offering nearly $20,000 more per year for entry-level officers. Seattle is near the bottom of the standings.
SPD Chief Adrian Diaz defended the incentive program at the State of Downtown event last week and said it was important to stay competitive with other jurisdictions.
After a Seattle City Council briefing on Monday, both Public Safety Chair Bob Kettle and Councilmember Tanya Woo suggested the available money was a good use of tax money.
In 2022, three council members including sitting Seattle Councilmember Tammy Morales voted against using money for incentives, suggesting the public would be better served using the funds for other social service programs.
During a presentation on police recruitment to the Seattle City Council Public Safety Committee on Tuesday morning, city leaders urged urgency and action because current hiring efforts are barely making a difference.
As of January, Seattle had only 913 fully trained and deployable officers. For context, that is about the size of the police force the city had two and a half decades ago.
“I am personally alarmed and dismayed to see that, and if rock bottom was ever a thing, we're probably here,” said Councilmember Rob Saka.
Regarding salaries, Diaz and other police department presenters told committee members that other cities are offering recruits much more.
“We want to make sure that our officers are the highest paid in the state,” Diaz said. “They deserve it."
While hiring bonuses for new recruits and laterals are available, Seattle may need to explore other incentives including take-home cars, educational opportunities, and even childcare services.
“We don't want to lose officers to other cities because we're not working fast enough,” said Councilmember Maritza Rivera.
Streamlining the recruitment process by making it easier to apply, and keeping job candidates in the loop, is seen as another way to attract talent.
“Most jurisdictions respond to an application within 48 hours. that doesn't happen here,” said Council President Sara Nelson. “Nothing will change in this city until we staff up SPD, so we are trying to remove barriers to applying and getting hired here."
Much is at stake because Seattle police have lost more than 700 officers in the past five years and despite that new hires are still short by 375.
“The more we can actually hire more officers rather than lose them, that's what we're getting to, and I believe this year is the year that we're going to make that huge difference,” Diaz said.
Seattle police hope to hire 125 more officers by the end of this year. For comparison, the department only managed 62 new hires last year.