Council extends and revises Redding Police lateral signing incentive, approving tiered bonus structure

The Redding City Council approved an extension and modification of the Police Department’s lateral signing incentive program, moving to a three-tier structure tied to prior years of sworn service.

Police staff reported the city’s previous incentive (increased to $40,000 in 2022 and extended in 2023) helped the department recruit experienced lateral hires and save on academy and training costs. The department proposed a new three-tiered incentive: $20,000 for officers with 1–2 years of prior service, $40,000 for 2–5 years, and $60,000 for 5+ years. Staff also proposed changing the payment schedule to 25% at hire, 50% on completion of training, and 25% on successful completion of probation.

Staff said the program continues to save money compared with the cost of training recruits (they estimated roughly $109,000 per recruit) because lateral hires require less academy and field training; the department said that since the 2022 increase it hired 29 laterals and realized significant training savings. The incentive includes a three-year service commitment; officers who leave before three years would be required to repay the bonus on a prorated basis. Police staff said the program is funded from salary savings and recommended keeping the City Manager’s ability to suspend the program for budgetary reasons.

Council approved the revised incentive and the three-year commitment; staff described the measure as a fiscally prudent way to fill sworn positions while reducing academy costs and shortening deployment times for experienced officers.