(The Center Square) – The Bellevue Police Department is seeing staffing levels improve and crime rates decrease as recruitment incentives pay off.
From the beginning of 2024 through Jan. 30 of this year, the Bellevue Police Department saw 46 new hires for a net gain of 17 officers, according to a Tuesday presentation before the Bellevue City Council.
Out of 206 commissioned officer positions budgeted by the city, there are 16 vacancies.
As for other professional staff within the Bellevue Police Department, 46 out of 50 budgeted positions are filled. These staff members specialize in administration, records, forensics, and property and evidence.
Police Chief Wendell Shirley believes his department has an advantage in recruiting that other police departments in the region may not have: strong community support and buy-in from city leadership.
However, money also helps recruit people to join the police force. The Bellevue City Council recently approved an increase in hiring bonuses for lateral hires from $16,000 to $30,000.
Shirley said that has helped the department boost its staffing levels with five lateral hires having taken advantage of the bonus increase so far since it was put in place.
Overall, the city has continued to see crime rates decrease since 2022. In the case of 2024, there were 7,705 overall cases of crime, a 6% decrease from 8,229 in 2023.
However, shoplifting and simple assault cases increased in 2024 by 8.5% and 3% respectively, with shoplifting being the most common crime in Bellevue.
Lower crime rates also resulted in fewer calls for service in 2024 (69,028) than in 2023 (69,767). However, officers responded to priority 1 calls at an average response time of three minutes and 35 seconds in 2024, a slight increase from three minutes and 28 seconds in 2023. Despite this, Bellevue police officials told the city council in a presentation on Tuesday that the response times were still “very good.”
The neighboring city of Seattle successfully increased its police officer hires in 2024 with 139% more hires in 2024 (1,163) than in 2023 (487). The city council was able to help improve hiring rates by approving an increase in bonuses for lateral hire from $30,000 to $50,0000, making Seattle have the highest lateral hiring bonus out of the western Washington region.