Tacoma to implement recruitment incentives for police officers amid staffing shortage
The city of Tacoma is implementing recruitment incentives to hire police officers as the department faces a staffing shortage.
There are 50 budgeted positions in the Tacoma Police Department that are unfilled, out of more than 300 total positions, according to city staff.
“We are down 50 police officers, and we have absolutely seen the rise in violent crimes and petty crimes and public safety issues in our community,” Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards said at the Tacoma City Council meeting Tuesday evening.
The incentives are for lateral police officers, meaning officers who are active law enforcement professionals in other jurisdictions, and therefore require a shorter hiring, onboarding and training period.
The incentives include: $10,000 upon commission, $7,500 upon completion of probation, and $7,500 a year after the completion of probation.
Funding was approved by City Council last year during the city’s mid-biennium budget modification. Council approved $262,500 for police recruitment incentives for about 10 lateral police officers.
Tacoma and many cities across the country are facing shortages of police.
“A lot of police officers have begun to look for other opportunities — and that’s across the country. I don’t know a mayor who’s not dealing with a shortage in their police department,” Woodards said Tuesday.
Woodards said the hope is the incentives would help speed the city’s ability to fill its budgeted positions and get officers on the street more quickly.
The Tacoma Police Union Local 6 has been vocal about needing more staff to tackle crime and have shorter response times.
“Until our police staffing levels improve, we won’t be able to adequately respond to our city’s public safety needs,” the union posted on Facebook on Tuesday.
January 2022 had a 25 percent increase in assaults in Tacoma compared to January 2021. During the same time, Tacoma saw a 512 percent increase in arsons, 81 percent increase in burglaries, 118 percent increase in motor vehicle thefts, and 116 percent increase in stolen property, according to a Feb. 8 crime report shared by the Tacoma Police Department.
This story was originally published February 24, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
