(The Center Square) – The Seattle Police Department saw the number of lateral officer candidates in 2024 nearly double from the previous year, as city leaders tout progress in addressing the department’s post-pandemic staffing shortage.
A lateral officer is an experienced, sworn law enforcement officer who transfers from one police department to another rather than being a new recruit.
According to data collected by The Center Square, 34 lateral Seattle Police Department candidates passed the public safety civil service exams and were referred to the department for pre-employment screening. That’s as compared to 18 candidates in 2023.
As of Aug. 31, 2024, the department had 933 deployable officers, meaning the 34 candidates make up about 4% of the department’s force.
The department did see success last year after struggling with hiring experienced officers since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
The 34 candidates represent a 240% increase from the post-pandemic low of 10 lateral candidates in the background check phase in 2022.
Callie Craighead, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell’s press secretary, noted that the Seattle Police Department had 175 total lateral applicants in 2024, with 84 of those candidates passing the basic lateral minimum qualifications. Of these 84 candidates, 34 passed the test and were moved on to background checks.
The 175 lateral applicants are also an increase from 2023, when the police department had 142 total lateral applicants. Of those, 59 passed the basic lateral minimum qualifications, and 18 of them passed the test and were moved on to background checks.
Seattle police officer staffing levels decreased to 913 fully trained and deployable officers in January 2023, the lowest level since the 1990s, when the department first started keeping track of that statistic.
“Since day one in office, Mayor Harrell has made increasing staffing at SPD a top priority to improve public safety outcomes, and this data shows that the city is making progress to hire qualified lateral officers from other agencies,” Craighead told The Center Square in an email. “This is significant as lateral applicants who are already trained have reduced academy requirements, meaning they can start on the job faster.”
Seattle City Council Chair Sara Nelson also deemed the 34 candidates a success, noting the cost-efficiency of hiring officers with prior experience.
“The increase in lateral hirings for police officer candidates is positive news and one of the outcomes this council and the Mayor’s Office has worked hard to realize,” Nelson said. “Hiring laterals is beneficial because it saves both money and time in increasing staff at the Seattle Police Department.”
Harrell’s Office and Nelson point to other steps the city took last year to showcase a positive trajectory in terms of lateral candidates in 2025 and beyond.
This includes offering a maximum hiring bonus of $50,000 to lateral hires, a new police contract with the Seattle Police Officers Guild that raises wages for rank-and-file officers, reducing hiring wait time to three to five months and increasing the department’s advertising budget to $2.5 million in 2025 to reach more potential recruits.
“Moving forward, I hope the hiring bonuses also prove to be an effective tool as we continue to focus on boosting our police hiring numbers,” Nelson added.
Last year was the first time since 2019 that the Seattle Police Department had more hires than separations. Harrell’s office pointed out that the department has hired 43 officers, including 4 laterals, so far this year, building on the positive steps taken in 2024.
The 43 hires represents a 330% increase from the 10 officers hired in the first three months of 2024.
“We will continue to build on that progress to reach our recruiting goals and build a well-staffed police department that can be responsive to the public safety needs of our communities,” Craighead said.
