A report examining the use of hiring bonuses for City of Seattle jobs including Seattle Police officers calls the incentives “a one-time quick fix” that may not help keep people in the hard to fill jobs while also risking alienation of those already in the positions.
The Seattle City Council’s Public Safety and Human Services Committee will review the report in its Tuesday morning session.
In March, CHS reported on the council’s vote to pay a final $220,000 burst of incentive activity for bonuses improperly given out in January to new hires in the police and dispatch departments despite the end of former Mayor Jenny Durkan’s unsuccessful order attempting to boost SPD’s ranks as she left office.
Mayor Bruce Harrell’s administration said it would wait on the study on incentive pay and whether bonuses are the right way to fill city jobs and meet police officer hiring goals.
The brief report on the incentives (PDF) said the bonuses doled out for new dispatch employees were effective in recruitment with a “5-time” increase in applications but SPD saw no such bump.
“The issue of whether SPD has seen benefits from incentives is incredibly difficult to conclude because the incentives have been offered and removed several times,” the report reads. “In addition, these incentives have been offered at a time when police departments around the region and state have been offering hiring incentives.”
The report identifies which city jobs are most critical and difficult to fill including carpenters and police officers:
Carpenter / HVAC Technicians / Plumber / Skilled Trades / Truck Drivers / Cashiers / Recreation Attendants / Electrical Inspectors / IT Programmer / Public Safety Auditor / Sr. Civil Engineer / Veterinarian / Police Officers / 911 Dispatchers
According to the study, some departments in the City of Seattle have observed “a clear and positive benefit” from hiring incentives but “this must be weighed against other situations where this approach has potentially inherent drawbacks and equity issues for both the employer and employees.”
The study’s summary concludes that the city does not have enough “conclusive data to determine if hiring bonuses were successful in increasing hiring and further exploration would be required.” A more obvious boost, according to the summary, would be an overhaul of the city’s “job compensation and classification system” — an undertaking that “would require significant research, planning, and budget.”
The report comes as the council and mayor’s office wrestle with how best to address SPD recruitment and retention while also facing staffing issues across the city’s departments. Earlier this year, CHS reported on 2021 crime statistics and the likelihood SPD will fall about ten officers short of 2022 hiring goals as officials and officer union leadership say violent crime totals will continue to rise without more cops.
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