- Washington, DC is giving new cops a $20,000 hiring bonus amid a "very challenging job market."
- DC's chief of police said the pandemic and demand for remote working were stunting hiring.
- The bonuses mean first year pay for new officers joining the force is over $80,000.
The city of Washington, DC is offering $20,000 hiring bonuses to new cops amid a nationwide labor shortage.
The district's mayor and the chief of its Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) announced the new bonus on Friday as part of plans to hire hundreds more police officers.
"We know how critical it is to have a fully staff and resourced MPD, and that requires us to hire strong talent and to retain experienced officers," Mayor Muriel Bowser said in a press release.
New starters will be given $10,000 as an initial hiring bonus and a further $10,000 once they complete a 24-week training program at the police academy. The money will have to be repaid if new recruits quit the force within two years of graduating from the academy.
The starting salary at the DC MPD is $60,199, which rises to $65,863 after an 18-month probationary period. The $20,000 hiring bonus effectively means an increase of 33% to the basic first-year salary.
"While our recruiting standards remain high, we know this is an extremely competitive job market and this bonus distinguishes us from the rest of the pack," police chief Robert J. Contee III said at a news conference Friday.
New officers are also eligible for other benefits, including $6,000 in rental assistance.
When asked what was deterring people from applying for jobs at the MPD, Contee pointed to the pandemic, demand for remote working, and a "very challenging job market."
"We have to come up with creative ways to lure officers to our department," he added.
The US is suffering from a labor shortage, with companies from airlines to restaurants struggling to find workers. In March, Chicago Police dropped its hiring standards by letting some candidates apply without meeting a college credit requirement amid a huge drop in the number of applicants during the pandemic. Vermont and Austin's police forces say they're struggling to find new recruits, too.
As of May 2021, US police officers and detectives earn on average $66,020 a year, per data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Around 795,000 people worked as police officers and detectives in 2020, and this is set to grow around 7% by 2030, according to BLS projections.
DC's bonus is part of Bowser's budget for the 2023 fiscal year, which includes an investment of around $30 million for MPD hiring, recruitment, and retention incentives. This is will help fund 347 new police officers, with a focus on DC residents and women, as the MPD plans to scale up its number of sworn-in officers to 4,000.