TACOMA, Wash. — As the Seattle Police Department prepares to layoff police officers, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department is going to great lengths to attract officers.
The sheriff's department is offering a $10,000 signing bonus for law enforcement officers in the state who are willing to leave their current departments and come to work in Pierce County.
The department already attracted a good pool of applicants and it's getting ready to hire more. Sheriff Paul Pastor announced on the department’s Facebook page that they have 26 unfilled positions that they're ready to hire for.
They said they initially held off on hiring for the positions because the county was in a hiring freeze, however, they received approval from the county executive to hire all the positions that were funded in the 2020-2021 budget.
The department has been using Facebook, YouTube, and other social media platforms to recruit applicants from the community and other departments.
In the Facebook post, the department seemed to take a bit of swipe at the situation in Seattle, saying:
"While other jurisdictions are busy with political posturing and 'defunding the police,' Pierce County is moving forward to fill our existing vacancies. We will also have an opportunity to hire solid, fully-trained people who are choosing to join our agency and our culture."