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Council approves $9,000 referral bonus for lateral police hires
Summary
The council approved an incentive program paying current employees up to $9,000 ($3,000 at hire, $3,000 after training, $3,000 after probation) for recruiting lateral police officers; staff said the bonus is intended to be more cost‑effective than outside recruiters.
The Los Alamitos City Council approved a police department recruitment incentive that pays current employees up to $9,000 in staged payments for recruiting lateral police officers.
Police staff described the plan as three payments of $3,000 each: on hire, after completion of training, and after the recruit finishes probation. The program is targeted at lateral hires (officers already certified elsewhere) to encourage word‑of‑mouth recruitment.
Why it matters: Police officials told the council that outside public‑safety recruiters can cost $15,000–$20,000 per hire; the referral incentive is intended to expand in‑house recruiting capacity and reduce outside contractor expense.
During discussion Chief staff explained there is no contractual clawback period requiring the recruiter to remain with the department for a set time in order to receive the recruiter payment. "It does not have a length of time that the employee would have to stay, for the recruiter to end up having to receive the bonus," the police representative said, adding that the department considers it unlikely a lateral officer would move solely for a recruiter payment.
Council members asked about program cost and vacancies. Staff said the department has 25 funded sworn positions, currently 23 filled with an applicant in background, and that the bonus would apply to lateral hires filling current vacancies. Officers on the recruitment "team" perform outreach as an ancillary duty and incur only minimal overtime costs for occasional events.
The council approved the item as part of the consent calendar after discussion. Staff said they would monitor recruitment outcomes and compare program costs with outside recruitment vendors.
