Mayor Jenny Durkan touted her police department’s success in recruiting new “local” officers — especially officers of color — as she launched a new “This is My Neighborhood” program hoped to continue the trend:

“This is My Neighborhood” continues the City’s work to advance hiring, recruitment, and retention at the Seattle Police Department. Last year, the City released the 2019 Recruitment & Hiring Retention Workgroup report, which outlines 12 key strategies the City can take to recruit and retain more police officers dedicated to reform and true community policing.

“Seattle is one of the fastest growing cities in the country over the last decade, but our police department has not grown proportionally, and we’re working hard to catch up. In 2020, we’re a big city with big city challenges, and we need a robust police department with officers committed to true, community policing,” Durkan said.

In her announcement of the new initiative, Durkan’s office says the Seattle Police Department hired 108 officers in 2019, “the highest number of officers hired in over a decade at the department.” 39% of those hires were non-white, “the highest percentage of people of color hired in single year in the department’s history.”

The “This is My Neighborhood” campaign involves billboard marketing and social media that will focus on 12 SPD officers and “seeks to expand the size and diversity of the police force,” according to a press release on the initiative.

“These 12 employees come from a broad representation of positions throughout the department – including patrol and other specialty units,” the announcement reads.

SPD started the year with around 1,369 total sworn officers, “plus 56 recruits who were either in the Academy or waiting for a spot in the Academy.” It hired 11 new officers in the first month of 2020.

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