Today, Mayor Bruce Harrell is releasing the 2023-2024 Proposed Mid-Biennial Budget Adjustments. This budget reflects Mayor Harrell’s continued commitment to, and investment in, bold actions that address urgent needs of our communities and advance our One Seattle priorities. Mayor Harrell’s proposal continues work initiated in the 2023 Adopted Budget to invest in creating safe, healthy, and thriving communities. This budget continues supporting efforts to deliver effective public safety, build affordable housing and address the homelessness crisis, activate our Downtown, and advance opportunity and equity for all.
With the investments in this budget proposal, we can work together to advance our shared One Seattle vision and an agenda that will inspire the best in our city and keep us moving forward.
For the Seattle Police Department (SPD), the mayor’s proposed budget reallocates resources to improve capacity for SPD to respond to the most pressing public safety concerns. SPD continues to face a severe staffing shortage caused by four consecutive years of net reductions to the size of the police service. To align with staffing projections, the mayor’s proposal reinvests salary savings from 57 officer vacancies in 2024 for overtime to support emergency response and investigative services and a new crime prevention pilot program. The 2024 budget also includes continued investment in technology projects initiated in 2023 and ongoing police recruitment and retention efforts, such as the hiring bonus program, contract marketing and advertising services, leadership training, third-party background and testing services, and electronic case management for the Background Unit.
The following is a summary of SPD’s key changes in the 2023-2024 Proposed Mid-Biennial Budget Adjustments:
- Reallocate $6.3M in projected salary savings for Overtime – This change provides funding for overtime to staff patrol shifts, investigative functions, and special events.
- Reallocate $1.8M in projected salary savings for Crime Prevention Pilot – Reinvesting $1.8M of Seattle Police Department salary savings into a new crime prevention pilot to leverage technology in areas hardest hit by gun violence. Funding is for implementing automatic license plate readers, CCTV cameras, and acoustic gunshot locator systems to deter criminal behavior, assist in evidence retrieval, and hold offenders accountable.
For more information on the proposed budget, read the mayor’s press release here: Mayor Harrell Announces 2024 Budget Proposal – Office of the Mayor (seattle.gov).