Council approves funding to implement lateral police recruitment incentive; officials say immediate hires would save money versus academy recruits

The City Council voted to approve funding necessary to execute a memorandum of understanding for a referral and sign-on bonus program intended to recruit certified lateral police officers to the Bristol Police Department. Police officials and the mayor described the MOU as a first step to counter a nationwide decline in applicants. Jim Hasselkamp, a police official who led the presentation, told the council that the applicant pool has shrunk sharply in recent years and that the city currently had a small number of applicants for an ongoing recruitment. “This is a global issue,” he said, noting a regional study that found average applicant pools fell from hundreds to the low hundreds across multiple towns. Officials outlined the financial logic for recruiting lateral hires: training and wage costs for a new academy recruit plus roughly three months of field training can approach $63,000 per new recruit, while bringing a certified officer on board after any negotiated sign-on incentives would substantially reduce those costs. City documents and presenters estimated the direct program cost for the incentive structure at roughly $15,000 per lateral hire and projected gross savings of about $48,000 per hire compared with a full academy-and-FTO cycle. Council members asked about program safeguards. Officials said the MOU conditions payment on completion of an initial probationary period and that the program includes provisions the city can pause if it is not producing recruits. The motion to approve funding and refer the MOU to the Board of Finance passed on a council vote. Why it matters: The department reported it is operating below authorized staffing and anticipates additional retirements. Officials said steady understaffing risks heavier overtime use and operational strain; they described the incentive program as an effort to recruit experienced officers quickly. What’s next: The MOU was approved by council and referred to the Board of Finance for funding authorization; department leaders said they will monitor results and return with changes if the program does not attract lateral candidates.