HomeMy WebLinkAboutAB-2881AB - 2881
City Council Regular Meeting - 14 Jun 2021
SUBJECT/TITLE: Increased Bonus Pay for Lateral Officer Applicants and Bonus for
Entry Level Officer Applicants
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Refer to Finance Committee
DEPARTMENT: Police Department
STAFF CONTACT: Jon Schuldt, Chief
EXT.: 7555
FISCAL IMPACT SUMMARY:
Increase of $10,000 per lateral officer hired and an increase of $1,000 per entry level officer hired.
SUMMARY OF ACTION:
The Department has two options for filling officer vacancies. One of them is to hire entry level officers and
send them to the academy. The other option is to hire experienced officers from within Washington or from
out of state. These experienced officers are called lateral officers and require a substantially less amount of
time to be deployed as a fully functional officer to solo patrol.
In the State of Washington, an entry level officer attends the Basic Law Enforcement Academy for 18 weeks
upon initial hire date. The Department typically assigns a hire date four weeks prior to the start of the
academy. Once the candidate successfully completes the basic academy they begin a two week post academy
training at the Department. The post academy train ing is then followed by an additional 18 weeks of field
training before the officer can be on their own. In a perfect scenario, it takes approximately 42 weeks upon
the initial hire date until the officer is filling a position in patrol as a fully functio nal officer.
The typical training required of a lateral officer consists of the two week orientation followed by 12 - 18 weeks
of field training. This allows us to deploy a lateral officer within 14 - 20 weeks upon initial hire date as
compared to 42 weeks for an entry level officer.
As of today the Department has:
• 12 unfilled commissioned officer positions;
• 3 entry level officers are currently in the academy.
The Department currently has a bonus program for lateral officers consisting of a $5,0 00 payment upon hire
date and a second $5,000 payment upon completion of their one year probation. The Department is
proposing to increase the bonus to a $10,000 payment upon hire date and a second $10,000 payment upon
completion of their one year probation.
In reality, the Department is saving approximately 22 weeks of compensation by hiring a lateral officer over an
entry level officer, or $51,600 versus $98,700 to get an experienced officer to solo patrol in exchange for the
AGENDA ITEM #7. f)
additional $10,000. We believe that adjusting the compensation for lateral officers will increase the applicant
pool for the Department and will allow us to deploy officers in the field at a much faster rate.
The Department is also requesting the ability to offer a $1,000 bo nus to entry level officers upon hiring. Top
tier entry level officers are entertaining offers from multiple agencies; this bonus will assist in making Renton more
alluring for those just entering the profession.
EXHIBITS:
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Approve the proposed change in compensation for lateral and entry level officers.
AGENDA ITEM #7. f)