Meeting: May 13, 2025
1 16 ITEM BY COUNCILMEMBER DAN HALL
2 Request of Councilmember Hall that the City Council direct the Interim City 3 Manager to establish a Department of Defense Skillbridge service member 4 internship program within the Santa Monica Police Department for the purpose of 5 opening a new recruitment pipeline for vacant roles.
6 The Department of Defense (DoD) SkillBridge program helps service members 7 transition to civilian careers by allowing them to intern with civilian employers during their 8 final 180 days of active duty. The service member remains on active duty and continues 9 to receive military pay and benefits, meaning the host employer incurs no salary cost. 10 SkillBridge internships are not subject to federal wage-hour laws or create additional 11 contracting obligations for employers. Veterans bring discipline, teamwork, and problem12 solving experience from their military service to municipal public safety. 13 For the City of Santa Monica, SkillBridge could establish a new recruitment pipeline 14 to the Santa Monica Police Department’s (SMPD) non-sworn and sworn workforce. 15 SMPD could partner with SkillBridge to draw on the leadership and technical skills of 16 separating military officers and non-commissioned officers. This would also allow the 17 Department to test candidates for performance before extending offers of employment. It 18 is also possible for the Department to use this internship period to assess candidates for 19 sponsorship to an Academy and transition to a sworn officer position. 20 Southern California’s military installations provide a rich local talent pool. Los 21 Angeles Air Force Base (El Segundo) is home to thousands of Airmen and Guardians 22 and is headquarters to one of three Space Force Commands, the Space Systems 23 Command. Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton (San Diego County) trains and houses 24 over 40,000 marines and sailors. As of May 2, 2025, SMPD is funded for 232 sworn officer 25 headcount, with 222 positions filled. Several vacancies have persisted for years, despite 26 best efforts made by our Department’s recruiting team. By leveraging SkillBridge with 27 these nearby bases, SMPD could tap into a previously untapped pool of qualified veterans 28 and transitioning service members for its vacant positions. 29 In order to establish a new recruitment pipeline for the Santa Monica Police Department, 30 promote our city as a veteran-friendly employer, and further our commitment to our 2025- 31 2027 Budget Priority of “clean streets and safe neighborhoods,” 32 I THEREFORE MOVE THAT THE COUNCIL:
33 1. Direct the Interim City Manager to work with the Police Chief, Human Resources 34 Director, and recruiting team to establish a DoD Skillbridge program. 35 2. Utilize learnings and best practices from similar programs established by:
36 2.1. Los Angeles Police Department.
16 ITEM BY COUNCILMEMBER HALL
Establishing a DoD Skillbridge Internship Program with SMPD
37 2.2. Los Angeles Airport Police.
38 2.3. Salinas Police Department.
39 2.4. San Diego Police Department.
40 3. To the extent possible, prioritize efforts with local-to-Southern California bases 41 such as Los Angeles Air Force Base and Camp Pendleton to initiate recruitment 42 efforts.
43 44 # # #