St. Louis police board proposes bonuses for officers who bring in lateral recruits

By Katie Kull
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

ST. LOUIS, Mo. — City cops who recruit officers from other police departments could soon be getting a bigger bonus.

The Board of Police Commissioners is set to consider a measure Wednesday that would allow city cops to receive $1,000 for making one referral, an additional $1,500 for a second and another $2,000 for a third as part of an ongoing effort to recruit more officers.

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“We know that some of our best recruiters exist within our organization,” police spokesman Mitch McCoy said. “They already know how the job is done. They know the professionalism, the values of service that we expect of people, and they know who will fit and who may not be the best fit.”

The increase from a prior $500 incentive is one of several steps — raises, hiring blitzes and advertising campaigns — police officials have taken in recent months to boost recruiting and retention since a state-appointed board took over last year.

McCoy said the referral bonuses target already licensed officers, who can be on the job within weeks rather than months for academy recruits.

“This will be one additional incentive,” he said.

Since 2020, police departments across the country have been struggling to retain officers and recruit new ones. The COVID-19 pandemic brought with it a spike in homicides, while the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis by police led to nationwide protests and calls to defund the police.

That struggle was particularly acute in St. Louis, where the national trends were compounded by Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner , who failed to prosecute so many cases submitted by police that a backlog grew into the thousands. At the same time, police said the mayor and other elected officials didn’t support them.

In 2020, the department had 1,262 officers on staff, according to data compiled by the FBI. By 2025, it had 843.

State officials, including Gov. Mike Kehoe, cited the staffing decline as evidence that the city had failed to manage the department since taking control in 2013.

State lawmakers then passed a bill last year re-establishing the state-appointed Board of Police Commissioners . Almost immediately, the board approved the first round of officer raises and pledged to overhaul recruitment.

Over the past several months, the board has approved another round of raises — including double-digit increases for top brass — held a hiring blitz netting 124 applications and is boosting its recruitment division.

McCoy said Tuesday the bonuses build on those efforts.

And the board hopes the larger bonuses will encourage more officers to participate. Between 2023 and 2025, the department paid just 29 referral bonuses.

The new policy would not apply to officers who previously worked for the department but want to return. Officers must also stay on for at least six months for the recruiter to be eligible for the bonus.

Officers can receive up to $10,500 a year in recruitment bonuses. The department will allocate $30,000 for the program in its first year, according to the resolution.

Board members are set to vote on the proposal at their 9 a.m. Wednesday meeting.

Do you think a referral bonus would be an effective tool for recruitment?

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