OLYMPIA, Wash. – Legislators are considering financially supporting police departments large and small as they try to hire new officers in the name of boosting public safety.
Speaking at a hearing in the Senate Law and Justice Committee Tuesday morning, State Senator Jeff Holy (R-Cheney) said Seattle police had one of their best recruiting years in 2024, drawing in 84 new officers. However, he said a large number of existing officers left, ultimately adding two or three officers on net.
“They’re trying their darndest to play catchup, but they’re bleeding as fast as they’re gaining on this,” Holy said. “We’ve had a transition over the years, the last several decades here, we’ve had the smaller agencies that don’t pay what the larger agencies do and you’ll have people move to the larger agencies. So there’s this ongoing catchup for smaller agencies.”
Proponents of Senate Bill 5060 say it’s one part of a whole slate of action needed to address a shortage of police officers across the state.
The bipartisan legislation would require the state’s Criminal Justice Training Commission to establish a grant program helping local and tribal law enforcement agencies recruit and retain more officers. Grant funding could only be used to pay for a portion of the officer’s salary and benefits for up to three years, and $100 million would be provided over the next two years to fund the grant.
As prime sponsor, Holy said the money would provide a bit of help in a costly process.
“Seattle police officers—a new police officer makes about $103,000 and there’s a $7500 bonus,” he said. “Yet the cost of the academy, the field training officer, the total program putting them through a probationary period — you’re running into a quarter-million dollars for one officer.”
The office of Governor Bob Ferguson (D) testified in support of the bill Tuesday morning. The governor previously told legislators during his inaugural address that the funding is crucial.
“That idea was a cornerstone of my campaign for governor,” he said on January 15. “Any budget I sign must include this funding. Thank you, Senator Holy.”
Bill supporters said the bill is a great first step on improving crime prevention efforts and reducing police response times. But they need more help in sustainably funding officers and getting people into the profession.
“We ask the legislature to also please consider ways to help cities sustain reliable law enforcement funding, so we’re not faced with service cuts or layoffs in the long term,” said Spokane Valley city councilmember Rod Higgins.
“We are thousands of officers down. This is not going to be taken care of in a biennium,” testified Jeff DeVere with the Washington Council of Police and Sheriffs. “We hope we can be at the table as we continue to talk about ‘How are we going to fund this? What are the right things to do?’ We need to hire our future and retain those who are serving our public every day.”
One person citing their own negative experiences with law enforcement, expressed concerns to the committee about police trust and accountability. They told senators the money should be spent on ensuring officers are doing the right thing and upholding people’s rights.
“I know we need more officers, but we need good officers,” said Tonya Hardwick. “And the problem is we can’t keep good officers cause they’re forced out, they’re not allowed to be good.”
Senators on the law and justice committee appeared supportive of the effort. Though the state’s projected multi-billion-dollar budget shortfall could have an impact on the program becoming a reality.
Speaking at a media availability Tuesday, Democratic legislative leaders said the shortage of officers in some areas is not completely about funding, but rather a shortage of people applying – something seen across various career fields.
“We have a whole range of places where we have significant workforce challenges,” said Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen. “And so we have to recognize that as we decide where to best put the limited dollars that we have at the state level, that that is an area that we should continue to focus on and not neglect.”
Democratic leaders also pointed to training as a valuable tool in addressing public safety. House Speaker Laurie Jinkins (D-Tacoma) said new regional law enforcement training centers are expected to increase the amount of trained officers while significantly reducing a backlog of officers awaiting instruction.
Senate Bill 5060 is scheduled for a committee vote on Thursday morning.
Albert James is a television reporter covering state government as part of the Murrow News Fellowship program – a collaborative effort between news outlets statewide and Washington State University
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