‘Tone deaf, completely’: Jake and Spike say cutting SPD’s $50K hiring bonus ‘does not reflect well for Seattle’

The Seattle Police Department (SPD) will stop offering hiring bonuses as of Sept. 1, and KIRO hosts Jake Skorheim and Spike O’Neill think the timing could not be worse.

Jake and Spike laid into the decision on “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio, arguing it undercuts public safety at the exact moment the city can least afford it.

“I don’t think this reflects well on the mayor’s office,” Jake said. “This does not reflect well for Seattle, actually. This does not bode well for the future of public safety in Seattle.”

Interim Chief Andre Sayles decided to end the incentives as a way to help manage the department’s budget. Entry-level hires had qualified for $7,500, while lateral hires with experience at other agencies could receive up to $50,000. Applicants already in the pipeline or who submit applications by the end of August will still receive the bonus.

SPD currently has just 929 deployable officers, well short of the roughly 1,200 to 1,300 the department needs to adequately respond to 911 calls. The city is also staring down a $500 million budget deficit over the next three years.

Jake said he understands the budget pressure, but questioned where the city chose to make its cuts.

“Is this really the time to be cutting the budget for one of the most important departments, if not the most important in Seattle?” Jake said.

Spike calls decision ‘tone deaf’

Spike was blunter, ticking off the context surrounding the decision, from a mayor who was until this week facing a recall over public safety to a police department with the lowest per-capita officer count of any major city in the nation to competition from surrounding agencies all trying to recruit from the same pool.

“You’re competing with other municipalities to get the law enforcement community to come and work in Seattle, and you pick now to drop a 50k bonus? We’re not doing it anymore?” Spike said.

“Tone deaf, completely,” he continued. “I understand the budget shortfall. I understand that. But now you’re saying that where you have to make cuts is bringing in the adequate number of law enforcement officers to this city? That’s where you decided to make the budget cuts? In public safety, while you’re being recalled for your inability to deal with public safety? Who told you this was a good idea?”

Jake questions whether Wilson is behind the move

Jake raised the question neither host could answer from the reporting: whether the decision came from SPD leadership alone or was influenced by Mayor Katie Wilson’s office.

“Do you think this is a Mayor Wilson decision? Do you think this is influenced by her?” Jake said. “I mean, until she was elected, these are all the things that are going against SPD right now, which I think they have a tough hill to climb. They’re understaffed, which means that they cannot respond in a timely manner to 911 calls. They’re then catching the blame for citizens feeling less safe because they’re just stretched too thin.”

Jake pointed to the revolving door of police chiefs and what he described as Wilson’s history on policing.

“They have a carousel of police chiefs, which is not a good look for the department,” he said. “And under that entire umbrella of the mayor’s office, who, until she was elected, was defund the police,” Jake said.

$50K may not be enough anyway

Both hosts questioned whether the bonus was even enough to attract officers to Seattle’s current environment.

“Is that $50,000 really worth working in the environment?” Jake said. “You might find a dream job, but if you’re surrounded by city leaders who don’t support you, and you’re having to constantly respond to just the worst of the worst calls, where you can’t even make arrests because they’re not going to prosecute these crimes — are you going to want to go in every single day, day after day, doing your best?”

Spike said departing officers have made that exact point on their way out.

“When officers leave the force, they have an exit interview,” he said. “‘Why are you leaving?’ ‘Feels like I’m locking the same people up every afternoon.'”

“Cause it’s Groundhog Day,” Jake responded. “That’s what it is for them.”

Police union president responds

Jake said he reached out to Seattle Police Officers Guild President Kent Loux for his reaction.

“We are obviously heading in the wrong direction,” Loux said. “Our ranks aren’t full, and this isn’t the time to pull incentives that acknowledged and appreciated the experience that lateral candidates can bring to SPD. If this decision holds, the next several months will be telling. Public safety requires officers on the streets responding to calls for service. This doesn’t help.”

Jake said he agreed completely.

“I cannot help but go back to the fact that Katie Wilson had a very, very different approach and thought about police,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a priority for her. That’s my opinion. I don’t think it’s a priority for her based on everything she was about before she got elected.”

Mayor Katie Wilson’s office told KIRO Newsradio it supports the chief’s decision, stating that SPD hiring “remains strong” and that officer separations have been lower than projected in 2026.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3