Seattle Police Department receives highest number of applications in 10 years

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell shared some positive news for Seattle law enforcement.

According to a news release from Harrell on Tuesday, the Seattle Police Department received the highest number of applications in a decade — more than 4,300 in 2024.

The city hired 84 cops last year and for the first time since 2020, the number of officers hired outpaced the number leaving. In 2024, 83 officers left the department but 84 were hired.

However, on Wednesday, the mayor’s office made a correction in the news release to show the “accurate number of deployable officers.” In 2024 there were 1,054 total officers, with 933 being deployable, as of August 31, according to Harrell.

“The table of SPD officer statistics has been updated to show the accurate number of deployable officers and total officers for 2024 after a column was incorrectly transposed,” wrote the mayor’s office.

The chart shows that although more applications have been received, the total number of deployable officers is still far below 2019 levels — which stood at 1,281.

However, the number of deployable officers in 2024 is up from the previous year. In 2023, 97 officers left the department and only 61 were hired — making 1,062 total officers, with 913 being deployable.

SPD reported 4,115 entry-level and 216 lateral applications in 2024, with the average total number of applications per day more than doubling.

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Harrell credited new recruiting approaches and higher pay for the boost in officers. According to the release, the department introduced electronic pre-employment background testing to keep applications moving. It also hired additional examination support staff, allowed candidates to take the agility test from home and improved candidate tracking and outreach.

The department noted there are seven steps for entry-level candidates to apply including submitting an application, completing a written test, taking a physical agility test, passing a background investigation, completing a medical evaluation and completing a polygraph assessment.

“We continue making strides towards creating the best police department to work for period,” Interim Seattle Police Chief Sue Rahr stated. “With those improvements, we are just starting to see the results, with more than 20 new officers waiting to go to the academy and hundreds more just beginning the process.”

In April, MyNorthwest investigated what officers had to say as they were leaving the department. Of the more than a dozen SPD exit interviews in 2023 acquired by MyNorthwest, 100% were of officers who served more than five years with the department, 82% were from officers who served 11-15 years, 73% from officers who served more than 15 years and 64% came from officers who reached 20 or more years of service.

Four years after CHOP (Capitol Hill Organized Protest) usurped Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, officers were still reeling from the repercussions.

‘SPD is dying’: What Seattle police officers are saying during exit interviews

When presented with the question: What factors had a negative effect on morale in the department, Seattle police officers were nearly united in their responses.

“SPD’s political posture and city management in all categories,” one departing officer, a detective who’s been with Seattle for more than 10 years, said in response. “The morale and retention will never be achieved in the political climate of Seattle. SPD is dying and the command staff is along for the ride — watching it die.”

In total, 73% of obtained exit interviews cited city leadership as a reason for leaving. More than 80% cited staffing issues.

Now that SPD was able to hire more officers will it be able to keep them? Harrell is hopeful, stating in the release, “Since day one of my administration, officer recruitment and retention has been a major priority, and 2024’s net positive staffing — for the first time since 2019 — is a sign of progress, even as we recognize there is much more work to do.”

Contributing: Heather Bosch, KIRO Newsradio and Frank Sumrall, MyNorthwest

Julia Dallas is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read her stories here. Follow Julia on X here and email her here.