The SFPD’s controversial billboard recruiting campaign stunt last fall appears to have paid off, as the department says it welcomed 12 lateral transfers this year \u2014 its largest class in a decade and among the highest paid in the nation.<\/p>\n
The San Francisco Police Department swore in 12 experienced officers Monday who transferred from other law enforcement agencies around the Bay Area and elsewhere in California, marking its largest lateral academy class in 10 years, according to a news release<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cThese new lateral officers will join a family of hard-working members that are keeping the streets clean and safe in the greatest city in the world,\u201d said Chief Derrick Lew.<\/p>\n The department credited the milestone to its \u201caggressive\u201d recruitment campaign, which now includes a $25,000 signing bonus for POST-certified lateral hires as part of San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie\u2019s \u201cRebuilding the Ranks<\/a>\u201d initiative. <\/p>\n The salary for new hires with the SFPD is reportedly among the highest in the nation, starting at $121,654\/year, and going up to $231,919\/year with retention pay<\/a>, in addition to benefits and paid training. The SFPD\u2019s website notes that officers are required to work 40 hours per week on different shifts, and overtime may be required.<\/p>\n Last October, the SFPD’s recruiting tactics made headlines when the department parked a mobile billboard \u2014 dubbed the “poach coach”<\/a> \u2014 outside neighboring police departments, including Fremont and San Bruno, encouraging officers to leave their agencies for higher-paying jobs in San Francisco. While many found the stunt humorous, some departments were not amused.<\/p>\n The SFPD says it’s received 5,488 applications so far in 2026, surpassing the total for all of 2025, while noting that “more efficient testing and background processes” have cut hiring times by more than half.<\/p>\n The hiring push follows years of complaints that the department is chronically understaffed, along with the approval of tens of millions of dollars in overtime<\/a> in recent years<\/a>. The overtime budget reportedly covers operations like drug enforcement, retail theft operations, and drone deployments, as ABC 7 reported<\/a> earlier this year. <\/p>\n Last year, a city audit found that numerous officers called in sick from their regular SFPD shifts<\/a> before working private security assignments at an overtime pay rate the same day through the department’s 10B program. Others logged enough sick leave to make them ineligible for the extra work but continued taking those assignments anyway. Officers reportedly worked more than 50,000 hours through the program between 2020 and 2023 despite violating those eligibility rules, which auditors found were largely unenforced.<\/p>\n Per ABC 7, the SFPD ordered a 22% reduction in overtime in March due to budget cuts.<\/p>\n