The Seattle City Council approved a contract with the Seattle police union on May 14, 2024, that bumps starting pay from $83,000 to $103,000, with a raise to $110,000 after six months, the Seattle Times reported (story here).
Existing officers will get retroactive raises for 2021-23 as a lump sum payment of $60,000 or more.
A six-figure salary for a rookie cop sounds like a lot, but wasn’t enough to buy a Seattle starter home in 2023 (details here), and housing prices have only gotten worse since then.
Seattle’s police ranks have fallen to a 30-year low (story here); by 2022 police weren’t responding to some 911 calls (story here), but not because of defunding; the staffing crisis stems from lack of affordable housing (story here). Of course, that’s an issue for many other jobs and workers, too.
Related story: What are home prices so high? Read my article here.
