The Seattle Police Department continues to lose officers, and the City Council does not agree on how to add more police.
, backed by Lisa Herbold, public safety chair, opens up city dollars to pay for an SPD recruiter as well as relocation expenses associated with moving SPD recruits into the city.. The current budget is expected to have $1.4 million in salary savings due to difficulty recruiting and keeping officers, but the staffing struggles are worse than expected. Actual salary savings are now projected to be over $4 million.. Current estimates place that figure closer to 98.
Underpinning Tuesday’s debate is a report from the Seattle Department of Human Resources that fails to confirmresulted in a meaningful number of new hires: “SPD did not experience an increase in hiring since implementing a hiring incentive into their process in October 2021,” the SDHR response to the council request for an executive recommendation on resuming SPD hiring bonuses reads.Ultimately, the debate between the two wings of the council is informed by their budgetary constraints.
“My concern here is that the resolution and the expenditure that we’re talking about mean a reduction in the spending, meaning that they would be taken from other programs and other investments for 2023 and 2024. If passed … I am raising questions here today about using critical public resources for a possible investment in a policy that has not yet been proven.”Mosqueda made those comments referencing the SDHR memo, written with the endorsement of Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell.
“The potential for breaking trust is greater now, with many of the current City employees in … hard-to-fill jobs working on the front line during the pandemic,” SDHR continues.