Officers who join the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., could receive a hefty signing bonus under a new recruitment campaign launched by the mayor as the city seeks to crack down on rising crime rates.
The MPD will offer new recruits a $25,000 hiring bonus, which is a $5,000 increase from the current signing bonus that was implemented in the district last summer. The strategy comes as the city seeks to address a surge in violent crime that has resulted in widespread scrutiny as well as increased oversight from Congress.
CRIME IS JUST THE BEGINNING AS GOP SEEKS TO REIN IN DC’S LIBERAL GOVERNMENT
“We want officers to see the District as somewhere where they can grow their careers, where they will be supported, where they will receive high-quality training, and where they will have the equipment they need – and that is the message we are sending with our investments,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said in a statement. “We are proud to have a police department that represents and reflects our community, and we will continue our focus on growing MPD so that we have the officers we need to have a strong presence in the community, to make and close cases, and to respond quickly to emergencies.”
The hiring bonus will be disbursed in two installments, with the first payment of $15,000 being offered once a recruit is hired and the remaining $10,000 being granted after completion of the police academy. The funds will be paid for through a year-end surplus stemming from the fiscal 2023 budget.
The hiring bonuses will be implemented starting on April 24, which is the next hiring date for the MPD. The increased pay builds on the city’s efforts to bolster its law enforcement by reaching 4,000 sworn officers over the next 10 years.
Members of the D.C. Police Union have lamented the stagnant growth of the MPD over the last three years, arguing a mass exodus of law enforcement officers has helped lead to the surge in violent crime. Union members have specifically pointed to “anti-police legislation” from the D.C. Council beginning in June 2020 as well as lawmakers’ “virulent attacks on all police officers.”
“Without delving into the granular details of how terrible these bills are, or how blatantly awful the rhetoric used by the Council was, I can assure the members of this Committee that the direct result was a mass exodus of police officers from the department,” D.C. Police Union Chairman Greg Pemberton testified before the House Oversight Committee last month.
The MPD has lost roughly one-third of its department since the beginning of 2020, equalling 1,194 officers, according to Pemberton. Nearly 40% of those were resignations from employees who “just walked away from a career” with the MPD, he said.
Meanwhile, the city has reported a massive increase in crime over the last six years. Reports of homicide have increased by 75% since 2017, armed carjackings have increased by 227%, and armed robberies by 46%, according to Pemberton.
“Over the past two-and-a-half years, our Union has been sounding the alarm about this problem to anyone within earshot, including the D.C. Council,” Pemberton said. “We tried to inform our elected leaders of the unintended consequences of these policies. Unfortunately, we were ignored.”
The surge in crime rates in Washington, D.C., has caught the attention of several Congress members, with many using the rising numbers to argue for increased restrictions on the district’s autonomy. Congress passed a bill last month overturning the city’s rewritten criminal code, marking the first time in 30 years the federal government has repealed a law passed by the D.C. Council.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
House Republicans have since built on those efforts, introducing another bill in late March to override local police reforms that were passed late last year. Although legislation thus far has only focused on crime and public safety in Washington, Republicans are beginning to test the waters to see just how far they can go to rein in the district's autonomy — including on issues such as education, abortion, and the economy.
Meanwhile, local lawmakers in Washington have pushed back against legislation to shrink their legislative authority, denouncing those efforts as a way to use Washington to score political points ahead of a crucial election cycle.