(The Center Square) – The Seattle Police Department is projected to hire more than 150 officers by the end of the year, a recruitment milestone that will surpass the combined hiring totals from 2023 and 2024. It marks a significant step in the department’s efforts to reverse a previous staffing crisis.
On Monday, Mayor Bruce Harrell and Chief Shon Barnes announced that SPD is on track to hire its 150th officer of 2025 in the coming weeks, surpassing the combined 145 hires from 2024 (84 officers) and 2023 (61 officers).
By the end of 2025, SPD anticipates a net hire of 87 officers as a result of a projected 82 officers separating from the department.
Police staffing levels were at record lows in early 2024 with 913 fully trained and deployable officers, the lowest level since the 1990s when the department first started keeping track of that statistic. SPD has since rebounded with the help of increased pay and offering of $50,000 incentives for lateral hires and $7,500 for new recruits. The city has also reduced the hiring process from five to nine months to three to five months, which helps prevent losing qualified applicants to other agencies, and increased the department’s advertising budget to $2.5 million this year to reach more potential recruits.
“Our administration inherited the lowest police staffing in decades, and since day one, we have been committed to restoring staffing to decrease response times, improve neighborhood police presence, and ensure swift and thorough investigations,” Harrell said in a statement.
The increase in funding seems to have paid off, as more than 3,300 people applied for entry-level or lateral officer positions with SPD in the first three quarters of 2025. That is 22% more than 2,700 in the same period in 2024 and a 154% increase from the 1,300 through the first nine months in 2023.
As of Aug. 31, SPD employed 1,123 officers, including recruits in training. The proposed 2026 budget adds $26 million to SPD to fund 86 net new officers next year. This change includes $23.5 million in salary and benefits funding and $2.5 million in equipment and training funding.
SPD’s staffing crisis led to high-usage of overtime. Since 2023, SPD has used between 460,000 and 500,000 hours of overtime each year, but the 2026 proposed budget is funded for 450,000 hours, which reflects a $950,000 cut in overtime funding.
The increase in police officers could be a contributing factor to Seattle’s crime rate going down.
According to the Seattle Police Department Crime Dashboard, overall crime is down in the city. The Seattle Police Department recorded 9.6% fewer crimes citywide so far in 2025 than during the same period in 2024.
The Center Square previously reported on Seattle Police Officers Guild President Mike Solan voicing his concerns over the possibility of lessened standards in hiring in order to address the department’s staffing crisis. He noted that in some cases, an applicant can fail part of the polygraph, but still advance in the hiring process.
