(The Center Square) – Seattle is still recovering from the loss of hundreds of police officers years after the COVID-19 pandemic, with 1,102 deployable officers projected in 2028 compared to 1,281 in 2019.
From 2020 to 2022, the Seattle Police Department recorded 516 separations and 190 hires, a net loss of 326 officers. At the start of the pandemic, SPD had authorized funding for 1,497 officers; that figure now stands at 1,184, but would rise to 1,250 under Mayor Katie Wilson’s 2027-28 budget proposal.
Budget analysts told the Seattle City Council on Thursday that Wilson’s proposal would halt SPD’s net hiring growth in 2028, delaying a full recovery that some members say has been in progress for years.
“The 1,400+ number has been abandoned,” Councilmember Robert Kettle said of Wilson’s hiring plan.
SPD staffing began tanking in 2020 during the onset of the pandemic as the death of George Floyd led to violent protests in Seattle and nationwide. A hiring freeze, as the general fund deficit ballooned in 2020, made eventual recovery more difficult, with officers reporting low morale and a lack of support.
Wilson proposed her first budget as mayor last month; at $9.1 billion citywide for 2027, the proposal reduces the general fund deficit left by the prior administration from $175 million to about $23 million.
She reduced the gap through various transfers, reprioritizing funds and other measures, and plans to draw on available fund balances to fill the hole and cover minor deficits through 2029.
Seattle may see a $9 million surplus in 2030 if her projections hold, but not everyone on the council is convinced.
If approved, Wilson’s proposal would increase SPD’s budget by $68 million to $556.5 million in 2027.
About $56 million of that increase covers contractually obligated salary increases for the Seattle Police Officers’ Guild and the Seattle Police Management Association. Just $12 million of SPD’s budget increase would fund the 43 additional net officers Wilson plans to hire over the next two years.
The SPOG agreement, signed by former Mayor Bruce Harrell in December 2025, set recruits’ starting salary at $117,792 and sergeants’ at $158,748. The contract also provided a 2.7% salary increase for 2026, another 3% to 4% in 2027, and retroactive salary increases of 6% in 2024 and 4.1% in 2025.
“Which makes Seattle police officers the highest paid in the state,” Councilmember Rob Saka said during the budget meeting.
Wilson’s plan assumes 128 new SPD hires in 2027, with 85 separations, for a net gain of 43 officers, and an additional 79 hires in 2028, matched by 79 separations, for zero net staffing gain.
That would put SPD at Wilson’s 1,250 funded-officer figure unless more left the city than planned; in that case, budget staff told the council the mayor could adjust mid-year and hire more officers.
Hiring slowdown
Council staff said that to stay within the 1,250 funded positions, SPD would need to slow its hiring rate toward the end of 2027 from 12 recruits per month to seven. Lateral hiring, which means experienced officers transferring from another jurisdiction, would drop from two per month to just four per year.
The analysts said hiring must slow down in 2027 because if SPD hires officers halfway through 2027, SPD would pay only half a salary that year, but in 2028 it would have to budget for a full year’s salary.
“The number of police officers is going to be restricted by the budget instead of just full speed ahead,” Council analyst Greg Doss told the officials on Thursday.
Councilmember Eddie Lin pushed back on suggestions from Kettle, Saka and Councilmember Maritza Rivera that Wilson was deprioritizing public safety. He questioned how a $68 million increase for SPD could be classified as “defunding” public safety, or “unfunding” as Kettle has described Wilson’s budget.
“Would you call that defunding or unfunding the police department, such a large increase?” Lin asked council staff. “I do believe we need more officers, and I said that, and I continue to believe that.”
However, 1,250 funded officers does not mean the city has that many deployable officers. Kettle called it a “PR” figure for Wilson, given negative press she has received following the Bite of Seattle shooting.
The 1,250 figure includes recruits in the academy, officers in field training, fully trained officers and deployable officers. Wilson’s plan projects 1,151 fully trained officers and 1,102 deployable officers by the end of 2028, compared with 1,281 deployable officers when there was funding for 1,467 in 2019.
Seattle currently has roughly 1,020 fully trained officers, with 971 deployable, with funding for 1,184.
Lin said even if net growth stops in 2028, total deployable officers will still rise as they finish training.
SPOG President Kent Loux said he thinks Wilson’s budget should fund at least 1,400 full-time officers.
“That’s what the number we should probably strive for at the low end,” Loux told The Center Square in an interview Thursday. “If you really want to see more community engagement, you want to see officers not running from call to call. That’s where I think you’re going to need to see that … 1,400 number.”
Loux said that in the aftermath of the Bite of Seattle shooting, the department was already nearing that 1,250 figure.
Loux said some officers retired in June, so SPD isn’t at 1,250 officers now, but he argued that taxpayers won’t notice much difference in public safety if the mayor keeps SPD’s funding level at 1,250 officers.
The Center Square asked Wilson about her hiring plan during a general media availability on Tuesday.
It took place just hours after the Seattle Metro Chamber released a report showing that 75% of polled respondents, a majority of whom were Democrats, lacked confidence in the city’s public safety plan.
Wilson said it shows residents are aligned with her priorities, so The Center Square asked what Wilson has to say to those lacking confidence and whether her plan will really result in more officers by 2028.
“Public safety is a very high priority for me and my administration – I think that’s reflected in the budget,” Wilson told The Center Square. “… real progress means not just reacting to incidents when they occur, but taking that really deep look at the root causes, and that’s something that takes time.”
Training bottleneck, bonuses eliminated
The mayor said hiring isn’t the problem, but rather a “bottleneck in training.” When asked if SPD will have more officers in 2028, not just funding, than it does today, Wilson responded in the affirmative.
Loux described the training process as a “bottleneck” as well, noting that it often takes more than a year to complete their training, and SPD hired 165 officers in 2025 and has 145 projected for 2026.
Budget staff said Thursday that about 20 officers are also in a backlog, awaiting trainers.
SPD is reviewing its staffing levels to determine how many officers Seattle actually needs. Council staff said Thursday that it expects to finish that analysis by the end of this year. It’s unclear whether it will recommend increasing staffing levels, but if it does, that will require additional funding to implement.
Saka criticized a recent decision by Interim Chief Andre Sayles to eliminate SPD hiring incentives, including up to $75,000 for recruits, $50,000 for lateral hires, and reimbursable moving expenses.
“I fundamentally disagree with that approach,” Saka said of eliminating the hiring incentives.
Loux also said he’s disappointed to see the lateral hiring bonuses go away, but explained that it’s too early to measure the policy’s effect.
Councilmembers Alexis Mercedes Rinck and Dionne Foster joined Lin as counterpoints to their peers.
Both challenged the narrative, with Rinck pointing to the $68 million increase and Foster noting that SPD needs more officers and that Wilson’s plan doesn’t prevent that in future budgets.
“We’re limiting ourselves, and we don’t even have the staffing numbers we had pre-COVID, so we’re still trying to catch up,” Rivera said.