Seattle's police union is sounding the alarm after the city eliminated lucrative hiring bonuses for new and experienced officers despite the department remaining hundreds of cops short, warning the move could make it even harder to compete with neighboring departments for recruits."Public safety should be the cornerstone of every city budget," Seattle Police Officers Guild President Kent Loux told Fox News Digital after the city ended incentives that had offered $7,500 to new recruits and as much as $50,000 to experienced officers willing to join the Seattle Police Department. "Unfortunately, Mayor Katie has proven time and again that public safety is not a priority, but rather an inconvenience to be addressed after tragedy strikes," he continued."The decision to eliminate hiring incentives is baffling.
Seattle has still not recovered from the consequences of the defund-the-police movement that began in 2020, and we remain hundreds of officers short.Now is the time to be aggressively recruiting qualified officers, not eliminating one of the tools that helps us compete for them.
If this is the direction the Mayor intends to take, the future of public safety in Seattle does not look positive." Fox 13 Seattle reported Wednesday that the city stopped its hiring incentives for police recruits, slashing bonuses that provided as much as $50,000 for lateral officers joining from other law enforcement agencies.AS SOCIALIST MAYOR BATTLES ICE, SEATTLE POLICE AND CRIME VICTIMS SAY REPEAT OFFENDERS ARE TERRORIZING THE CITYKent Loux, the president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild.(Nik Lanum)Local outlet Kiro 7 reported that entry-level hires would qualify for $7,500, plus up to $5,000 in moving expenses if the move exceeds 50 miles, while lateral hires or officers that move from another department can receive up to $50,000 and $7,500 for relocation.KOMO News recently reported that the Seattle Police Department is "hundreds of officers short of its staffing goals, with on...