SPD should revamp marketing strategy, salaries to attract new cops

The Seattle Police Department is in the midst of a multimillion-dollar push to replenish its ranks after hundreds of police officers have retired, moved to other jurisdictions or changed careers altogether.

But it will take more than just bonuses, and the lure of working in a beautiful city where violent crime is relatively low, to attract the best and the brightest. Officials must become even more creative in their marketing of the police department, and the city of Seattle itself, to hire more officers to ensure quicker police responses. Median response time for priority one calls is now 7.8 minutes; priority two median response time is 32.7 minutes; and priority three and four median response times are 81.1 minutes, according to the city.

It also must address entry-level salaries, which rank well below many nearby communities.

As of late January, there were 913 deployable officers (sworn officers who are not on leave) in the department that serves a city of about 779,000. That isfewest officers since the early 1990s when the population was just over 520,000. The department has lost over 700 officers since 2019.

Mayor Bruce Harrell has a goal of 1,400 officers. Since 2022, the city has made strides in recruiting at job fairs, colleges, military bases and advertising on social media, billboards and TV. 

The city has also shortened the time between when SPD receives an application to making a hire from nine months to three to four months, Deputy Mayor Tim Burgess said. Candidates also can take their agility test anywhere it’s offered in the country instead of traveling to Seattle. The city has poured more than $1 million into marketing, up from an annual maximum of just $100,000 in the years leading up to 2022, Burgess said. 

Still, even with boosted recruitment, only 61 officers were hired in 2023. Also in that year, 97 left. That’s a decrease compared to 2022, when 159 officers left.

The SPD is offering new recruits $7,500 incentive bonuses and up to $30,000 for officers who transfer from another department. Yet, incentive pay appears to not count as much as salary and benefits when it comes to why new hires choose SPD, according to a hiring, recruitment and retention survey.

If officers leave the department within five years, they have to pay back their hiring bonus. That’s longer than many departments; in Kent, it’s one year and three in Bellevue.

But what separates Seattle from other cities is the chance for growth and development, which is likely greater in a larger department.

Seattle must continue its national advertising and recruitment efforts that have already yielded an uptick in applications to roughly 270 per month. But to compete with the top five communities for candidates, Seattle must consider raising its entry-level salary of $83,000 to compete with Redmond at $101,800, Kent at $96,200, Bellevue at $95,800, Everett at $94,100 and Edmonds at $93,700.

However, as the city uses salary, bonuses, benefits and marketing to increase its ranks, honor, character and integrity among its recruits must be paramount.