Looking from the outside in, it seems to me that being a police officer in Washington state can be a thankless job. If you’re a police officer, we see you approaching us wearing the uniform and we are wondering what we might have done wrong. (Maybe that’s just my guilty conscience.)
In my view, that’s just a small reason why it’s so hard to recruit police officers not just in the Northwest, but anywhere in the states.
There is some information that has come to light, though that might make it a little easier for Seattle to recruit officers, and that is the starting pay scale.
According to axios.com,‘ Seattle police earn some of the highest starting salaries for officers in the country, an Axios analysis finds. Entry-level pay for Seattle police officers is nearly $118,000 — far exceeding starting pay in New York City and Los Angeles, larger cities with similar or higher costs of living.’
If you look at a list of the 20 most populous cities in the United States, you’ll see that Seattle is only outranked by San Francisco and San Jose, CA. In starting pay. You might consider that a starting salary for a Seattle police officer of $118,000 is preposterous but think about it…