Seattle Considers Big Bonuses, Tuition Help To Attract Police Officers

SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell introduced a $2 million plan Wednesday for coping with what he described as a important scarcity of cops within the metropolis, together with recruitment bonuses, reimbursement of shifting prices and doable tuition help.

Seattle has misplaced greater than 400 officers since 2019 because the division was closely criticized for its typically violent response to racial justice protests and Metropolis Council members embraced calls to defund police following the killing of George Floyd.

Harrell’s plan contains $1 million the Metropolis Council already authorised spending for recruitment and hiring bonuses. That cash got here from financial savings in unspent officer salaries.

“We would like the appropriate numbers of officers and the correct of officers,” Harrell stated. “It crosses racial strains, it crosses socioeconomic strains that individuals need to really feel protected, they usually have a proper to really feel protected.”

The Seattle Police Division stays down 372 officers out of a pressure authorised for greater than 1,300. That is damage emergency response instances, prompted the division to cease responding to low-priority calls and required officers to work extra time, hurting morale.

The present variety of officers is Seattle’s lowest in 30 years. Seattle’s inhabitants has soared in that point. About 40% of the division’s detectives have needed to deal with patrol duties, severely reducing the quantity obtainable to analyze critical crime.

Harrell desires to supply signing bonuses of as much as $30,000 for lateral transfers from different police departments and as much as $7,500 for brand new officers — quantities that will make Seattle aggressive with different cities attempting to recruit and retain police, he stated.

He referred to as for reimbursing candidates’ applicant charges, journey bills and relocation prices, and stated he needed a research performed to find out the feasibility of paying tuition for faculty college students who decide to working for the division for a minimum of 5 years.

The plan additionally requires redoubling efforts to draw officer candidates from minority communities in Seattle and increasing career-advancement alternatives for present officers.

Town is negotiating a contract with the Seattle Police Officers Guild, and Harrell steered retention bonuses or different financial incentives would probably be a part of these negotiations.

Interim Police Chief Adrian Diaz stated the division might want to preserve the officers it has and add 500 over the subsequent 5 years. To this point this 12 months, although, 109 have left, whereas fewer than three dozen. Half of the brand new hires this 12 months are folks of shade, Diaz stated.