Board approves stepped recruiting incentive, members seek written governance rules

The St. Louis Board of Police Commissioners voted Aug. 5 to authorize creation of a stepped recruiting incentive for commissioned officers, establishing an initial FY27 budget of $30,000 and tiered referral payments for employees who refer recruits or lateral hires.

Commissioner Brown, the board's Labor Committee representative, presented the resolution and described the stepped payments, eligibility criteria and a $10,500 annual cap per employee. "As the board representative on the Labor Committee, I moved to adopt the resolution establishing a stepped recruiting incentive structure," Brown said during the presentation. The resolution delegates to the human resources division the task of drafting operating guidelines and authorizes creation of the program within the board's stated limits.

Commissioner Sonia Jenkins Gray said she supports recruitment incentives but pressed for clearer governance language before implementation, stressing the need for documentation, appeals procedures and regular reporting. "My concern isn't with the concept of the referral incentive program. It's with the governance process," Jenkins Gray said, asking that HR work with board leadership to produce the rules and return the final policy for board approval. The board adopted an amendment to require that the operating guidelines be returned for final board approval and approved the resolution by roll call.

Key clarifying details: the resolution sets referral payments at $1,000 for a first referral, $1,500 for a second and $2,000 for each additional referral; lateral hires must remain employed six months to trigger payment; the program caps individual earnings at $10,500 per fiscal year. The resolution authorizes HR to develop the program and returns final approval to the full board.