Council OKs bonuses for police hires

Hoping to encourage more people to join the Seattle Police Department, the City Council has approved a $5,000 hiring incentive for new recruits.

The Police Department has struggled to meet recruitment goals, which are critical to the city's plan to add 105 officers over the next three years.

New recruits now will earn a $1,000 payment after their first 80 hours at the police academy, followed by a $4,000 lump sum when they complete the academy.

The Police Department also began compensating rookies for uniforms, equipment and workout gear, saving each officer an additional $2,600.

Boosting police ranks figures into the first restructuring of patrol beats in 30 years to improve service and response times. The new incentive covers officers hired after Nov. 1.

"Recruiting has been a challenge. But we're doing fairly well when compared to comparable departments nationally," Assistant Chief Jim Pugel said.

The president of the Seattle Police Officers' Guild, however, said the incentives would not stop the loss of experienced officers, who are finding better pay in smaller departments. The guild has been working without a labor contract for the past year because of a dispute largely over wages and benefits.

"It's a positive direction; however, it's not in any way going to solve the hiring and retention problem they have," said Sgt. Rich O'Neill, the guild president.

"They can do that with a fair contract, something that will acknowledge the problem and take steps to correct it by offering a wage that makes Seattle a place that officers want to come to."

About 40 to 50 officers leave the department each year, mostly to retirement. Last year, the department was unable to hire enough new officers to compensate and had a net loss of 10 officers, Pugel said.

Five had transferred to other departments, he said.

The department improved this year, hiring 53 officers so far and gaining a total of seven positions, he said.

Pugel, who interviews departing officers, said many can't afford to live in the city and commute about 90 minutes to work. Higher gas prices, along with a desire to work closer to home, are top reasons they go elsewhere, he said.

"It was very clear they would not be moving to another agency if they could afford to live closer," Pugel said.

A police cadet under the most recent labor contract starts at $45,000. The city covers about 95 percent of health insurance premiums for sworn officers and sergeants.

The department pushed for the bonuses after surveying new recruits and other comparable departments. They'll cost about $435,000 annually if the department meets recruitment goals, Pugel said.

O'Neill, the guild president, said he thinks more than five officers are finding work elsewhere each year. Six on one shift at the West Precinct alone told him after a recent roll call that they had applied to other agencies, he said.

A net gain of seven officers each year falls far short of the 30 or so more the department needs to hire each year to meet new staffing goals.

Officers leaving are drawn to pay bonuses for experienced officers and perks such as "take-home" patrol cars, he said.

The city plans to begin partial coverage of moving expenses for "lateral" officers from other departments, Pugel said. The department hopes to be able to provide that benefit to rookie officers, he said.