DATE: March 7, 2023
DEPARTMENT: ADMINISTRATION
FROM: Steven S. Carrigan, City Manager
Roberto Filice, Police Chief
BY: Maria Avila, Human Resources Analyst II
TITLE: POLICE HIRING INCENTIVE
RECOMMENDED MOTION:
Staff recommends that the City Council approve a Resolution authorizing a Police Officer and Police Recruit hiring incentive and a staff referral incentive.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The Police Department currently has nineteen Police Officer vacancies. Staff recommend that the City Council approve a resolution authorizing a hiring incentive of $27,500 for ten lateral Police Officers and $10,000 for ten Police Recruits. Additionally, staff recommends a referral incentive of $2,500 for any eligible staff member referring a Police Officer or Police Recruit that is hired.
BACKGROUND:
The Salinas Police Department is a full-service police department operating twenty-four hours per day. The Police Department’s authorized sworn staffing is 161. Currently, the department has nineteen vacant Police Officer positions.
Salinas, like many other cities, is experiencing a diminished pool of well-qualified candidates for police officer. The inability to recruit police officers is of significant concern. Agencies around the state are experiencing the same shortage of police officer candidates and are offering hiring incentives to attract qualified applicants. These incentives range anywhere from $10,000 to $40,000 for lateral police officers.
The Police Department currently has nineteen vacancies, and we anticipate additional vacancies in the coming months due to retirements and resignations. Recruiting Police Officers is especially challenging given eligibility requirements, and the high costs of living and homeownership in Monterey County and surrounding areas. The Human Resources Department has continued with six open recruitments and is receiving applications on a continuous basis. The number of applications received this fiscal year total 77. Human Resources and the Police Department have coordinated 10 interviews; 20 candidates have been interviewed, 6 candidates have been disqualified through the background process, and 5 conditional offers have been extended. The City has hired 4 Police Recruits; one was an internal promotion, and another was a lateral Police Officer.
These hiring challenges are not new to the Police Department. Over the years, the City has instituted various incentive approaches to hiring. In 2015, the City Council approved a Police Officer hiring incentive consisting of a $20,000 for lateral officers and a $5,000 incentive for eligible staff referrals. Ten Officers were hired during a two-year period and nine of those Officers remain employed with the City.
The Human Resources Department is collaborating with the Police Department on a proposal for a hiring incentive of $27,500 to support recruitment, hiring, and retention of highly qualified Police Officers and to be competitive with surrounding areas.
To increase recruitment and become competitive, the City would pay a hiring incentive of $27,500 for lateral Police Officers, $10,000 for Police Recruits, and $2,500 for staff referrals. The incentive would be paid in installments as follows:
Lateral Police Officer
Incentive: $7,500 upon hire, $10,000 upon successful completion of the Field Training Program, and $10,000 one year from completion of the Field Training Program.
Police Recruit
Incentive: $5,000 upon hire, $5,000 one year from completion of the Field Training Program.
The Police Department would utilize the salary savings from budgeted, vacant positions to operate the incentive program for a total of approximately $425,000.
CEQA CONSIDERATION:
Not a Project. The City of Salinas has determined that the proposed action is not a project as defined by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) (CEQA Guidelines Section 15378).
STRATEGIC PLAN INITIATIVE:
The proposed action meets the Effective and Culturally Responsive Government Council goal.
DEPARTMENTAL COORDINATION:
The Police Department and Human Resources coordinated in this effort.
FISCAL AND SUSTAINABILITY IMPACT:
The overall cost for the incentive is expected to be $425,000. The exact timing of these payments is unknown at this time and will be based on when the positions are filled. Accrued assets and fund balance are expected to be sufficient to cover the incentive payments as these become due.
ATTACHMENTS:
Resolution
RESOLUTION NO. (N.C.S.)
RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SALINAS ADOPTING THE POLICE RECRUITING INCENTIVE PROGRAM WHEREAS, the City Council has determined that to effectively address current challenges faced by the Salinas Police Department with recruitment, hiring, and retention of Police Officers, the Police Hiring Incentive Program should be adopted; and WHEREAS, a referral incentive will encourage current City employees to recommend qualified candidates to apply for police recruit and lateral positions that have been difficult to fill; and WHEREAS, a hiring incentive will encourage lateral Police Officer and Police Recruit candidates to accept positions with the Salinas Police Department.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Salinas City Council adopts the Police Hiring Incentive Program as follows:
An eligible City employee who refers a candidate for a lateral Police Officer or Police Recruit position will receive $2,500 upon hiring the employee’s successful completion of the Field Officer Training program.
Police Recruits will receive $10,000: $5,000 will be paid upon hiring and $5,000 upon successful completion of the Field Training Officer program.
New lateral Police Officers will receive $27,500: $7,500 will be paid upon hiring, $10,000 will be paid upon successful completion of the Field Training Officer program, and $10,000 will paid one year from the completion of the Field Training Officer program.
For the purposes of this program, a lateral Police Officer is defined as a current or former California Peace Officer in good standing with the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) and who possesses a valid POST police academy certificate and a POST Basic Peace Officer certificate.
Human Resources staff, the City Manager, Department Directors, the City Attorney, the Mayor, City Councilmembers, and staff in the Personnel & Training Division of the Police Department are ineligible for the referral incentive.
The Police Hiring Incentive Program applies to lateral Police Officers and Police Recruits hired on or after April 21, 2023.
PASSED AND APPROVED this 7th day of March 2023, by the following vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
APPROVED:
_______________________
Kimbley Craig, Mayor
ATTEST:
_________________________
Patricia M. Barajas, City Clerk
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