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Police report: expedited hiring events boost academy roster after pay and bonus changes
Summary
Police and human-resources staff told the committee expedited hiring events have increased conditional offers, background processing and academy enrollment; staff cited higher pay and hiring bonuses as major drivers of improved recruitment and retention.
Division of Police leaders told the Public Safety Committee on Jan. 27 that a new expedited hiring process is increasing candidate throughput, producing larger recruit classes and improving retention.
Deputy Chief Daniel Faye and Acting Commander (recruitment) Lieutenant Hernandez summarized recent hiring events. The police department has implemented quarterly expedited hiring events that consolidate required steps into a three-day process; the department reported a marked increase in conditional offers and academy appointments following those events and related pay changes.
Lieutenant Hernandez reported recent numbers from the events: 305 attendees at the January hiring event produced 162 conditional offers, with 118 candidates currently in background investigations; a prior event produced 71 conditional offers and 46 recruits who remained in the academy. Overall, the department reported 77 recruits across two academy classes, with one class scheduled to graduate in late April and another in August.
Deputy Chief Faye credited the personnel and pay changes for the improvement. He said the city’s higher pay and hiring bonuses had increased both interest in applying and retention. “When the pay changed…we’ve seen a complete shift,” he said, adding that the combination of recruitment staffing, higher wages and recruitment events reduced the time-to-hire complaint the department had heard for years.
Committee members asked where candidates failed during the pipeline. Department staff said roughly two-thirds of applicants who begin the process voluntarily withdraw before completing hiring (67% in one cohort), while medical/psychological exam failures and background checks account for a small percentage (medical/psychological failures around 3% in cited cohorts). The department said it conducts outreach to withdrawn candidates to learn why they left the process and that recruiters now assign staff to individual candidates to improve communication and reduce voluntary dropouts.
Council members asked about bonuses, timing and payout mechanics. Deputy Chief Faye explained that the $5,000 total recruiting bonus is split: $1,000 during academy pay, $1,000 within 30 days after graduation, and $3,000 after completion of a six-month probation period; the contract language was negotiated with the union in August 2023.
The department also reported reinstatements (officers returning to the force) — 13 last year and 15 the prior year — and said it would supply additional demographic and residency breakdowns of applicants and recruits at the committee’s request.
Ending: Committee members praised the expedited events and encouraged the department to continue quarterly hiring and to provide follow-up demographic and residency data. The department agreed to provide the requested analytics and to continue outreach to withdrawers to identify actionable causes.
