Seattle may increase lateral hiring incentives for police officers to $50,000

The Seattle City Council is considering changes to its police recruitment and retention program to boost lateral hiring incentives to improve staffing levels with experienced officers.

Council Bill 120862 would continue the city’s hiring incentive program that is set to expire at the end of this year.

In 2022, the Seattle City Council adopted Ordinance 126654, which authorized using $1.57 million of Seattle Police Department salary savings from vacant positions for recruiting and retaining officers through a hiring incentive program.

Lateral transfers were able to receive up to $30,000. The new proposal from Seattle City Council Chair Sara Nelson would increase the maximum incentive amount for lateral hires to $50,0000.

If Council Bill 120862 is approved, the $50,000 incentive for lateral hires would put Seattle ahead of the cities of Des Moines, Everett, Mercer Island and Federal Way.

“Hiring incentives in general are necessary to ensure that we are competitive with neighboring jurisdictions and we are all fighting for the same recruits,” Nelson said during a Seattle Governance, Accountability, and Economic Development Committee meeting on Monday.

The hiring incentive program would continue to be funded through ongoing reallocation of SPD salary savings. According to a fiscal note, that will continue to total $1.57 million.

SPD is prioritizing lateral hires because they can be deployed more quickly than entry-level applicants. According to Seattle City Council central staff, SPD is averaging one lateral applicant per day. That is a positive step in the right direction for the department compared to previous years dating back to 2022.

Last July, SPD reached a high of 446 applicants, the highest since 2013. However, the department is still in a net deficit of officers.

Through the first six months of 2024, SPD hired 21 officers, while 55 separated from the department. Central staff members confirmed the net loss for SPD was still ongoing in September.

The committee will bring up the proposal at its next meeting on Sept. 23.