Palo Alto Police Announce Cash Hiring Incentives For Lateral, New Officers

PALO ALTO, CA – Amid a staffing shortfall created by vacancies, the Palo Alto Police Department announced Monday it is kicking off a major recruiting campaign this month to hire new police officers and public safety dispatchers, and to attract experienced officers from other agencies, a spokesman said.

"Since the hiring of qualified officers is a challenge right now for police agencies throughout the Bay Area and California, the Palo Alto Police Department is currently offering a $25,000 cash incentive for 'lateral' officers (those who are currently serving as an officer for another agency) who switch departments and come to work in Palo Alto," said Palo Alto police Lt. James Reifschneider.

The police department is also currently offering a $10,000 cash incentive for officer applicants who have already graduated from a police academy, with half the money paid upon their hiring and the second half upon completing their first year of employment, Reifschneider said.

Vacancies have created shortages in various areas throughout the department, resulting in the loss of a full-time traffic enforcement team, a full-time downtown patrol team and positions in the detective bureau while the department focuses its resources on safely staffing its patrol division in order to meeting the community’s needs, the lieutenant said.

The department seeks to hire 12 officers in an effort to return to its authorized force strength of 92 sworn personnel.

In addition, the department is looking to hire five public safety dispatchers to reach its authorized staffing number of 20.

Although recruiting efforts throughout the summer have yielded nine new staff members — five new officers currently in the department's training program are expected to hit the streets within the next several weeks, while four recruit officers are currently attending the police academy — Reifschneider said the 12 current vacancies need to be filled in addition to these new hires.

At the same time, the department is not relaxing the rigorous hiring standards potential officers must meet, he said.

Application information is available at Papd.org.

Image via Palo Alto Police Department