DC police expect slight increase in officers next fiscal year, reversing trend

For the first time in years, D.C. police expect to have more officers next fiscal year than they had the previous one.

The Metropolitan Police Department — like other departments across the country — has been having trouble keeping up with staffing. For the past 10 years, MPD has been unable to hire enough new officers to keep up with the number who have been leaving. At the same time, crime was going up in the District.

This fiscal year, the department expects to swear in 18 more officers than have left, D.C. Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice Lindsey Appiah told News4.

“We're seeing really good recruiting numbers … and in this budget, we'll see an actual net gain of officers instead of either staying flat or continuing to drop,” she said.

While 18 more officers in a department that is short almost 700 officers might not seem like much, for eight out of the past 10 years, MPD has lost more officers than it was able to hire. As recently as fiscal year 2021, D.C. police lost 219 more officers than it hired.

Now for the first time in seven years, the number will be on the positive side, which Appiah credits to incentives like signing bonuses and a new union contract.

“And certainly some of the money is,” she said. “Housing, the housing allowance, because we really want people to live in the city. That was a big one. There was some take home cars, which is a big deal for officers. A new CBA really helped with the retention of our, sort of, midcareer officers. So, it really is all of those things that we found that are helpful.”

“I think that we're in a good place to see positive trends moving forward,” Appiah said.

MPD offers a $25,000 bonus for new hires. The annual starting salary for a D.C. police officer is  just more than $66,000. After five years on the job, officers can make just more than $88,000 per year.