In 2023, only 1.3% of people who applied to become a San Francisco police officer made it from application to graduation from the academy. Of the 3,008 people who applied, 72 were admitted to the academy, and just 40 graduated.

This is not normal. Thirty years ago, the line to apply to be a San Francisco Police Officer stretched around the block. Thousands applied, SFPD Academy classes were completely full, and hundreds graduated every year. SFPD was fully staffed.

But SFPD isn't alone in its recruitment challenges. Currently, 80% of police departments in America are having issues with recruiting, with some 10-30% facing staffing shortages.

We wanted to find out what could be done to boost recruitment and graduation rates. To get to the bottom of this problem, we researched the department’s hiring process and spoke to decision makers across City Hall, the police academy, and the rank and file. Here’s what we found.

We should hire more cops from other cities

The easiest way to boost SFPD hiring is to invest in our lateral transfer process.

We should continue to recruit and train new officers, but it is much faster and more cost effective to hire police from other cities. While both are ultimately necessary, it’s with laterals that we can obtain the quickest boost to SFPD staffing.

Consider that:

• A new recruit has a 2%-5% success rate from application to academy graduation and will be 1.5 years until they start answering emergency calls
• A lateral has a 90% success rate from application to becoming a patrol officer on the street, and can start answering emergency calls in as little as 6 weeks (according to the recruitment team)

How do we hire more lateral police officers? We need to increase our signing bonus to be competitive with other Bay Area agencies. Currently, the SFPD lateral hiring bonus is $5,000. We need to increase our lateral signing bonus to at least $20K to be competitive with other departments in our area.

That signing bonus is non-pensionable and can be disbursed over time, like $1,000 per month for 25 months, to ensure that lateral officers remain committed to the San Francisco Police force. It could also be done as an up front lump sum, with a pro-rated payback requirement if they leave early.

Take a look at what other Bay Area Police Departments offer to laterals:

Increase the lateral hiring bonus and within 6 weeks you could have diverse, qualified officers that would have otherwise gone somewhere else.

The 3 stages of a police application

For new recruits, the process to become a police officer has three stages.

Stage 1: The tests

Time to completion: 1 week to 3 months

Recruits must first pass three tests:

1. Written Tests: Frontline National Law Enforcement Test (NTN) or POST Entry-Level Law Enforcement Test Battery (PELLET-B)
2. Physical Test: Grip-strength, sit ups, push ups, obstacle course (exam is scored based on number of each physical activity achieved)
3. Oral Test: Interview in front of a panel with questions about interest and motivation in becoming a police officer, community involvement, problem solving, and communication skills.

Stage 2: Eligibility

Time to completion: Up to 24 months, but the best candidates are fast tracked

Candidates are added to the eligibility list and categorized as green, yellow, or red depending on their performance on the tests in stage 1. Candidates are moved to the next stage in priority order and can stay on the eligibility list for up to 24 months.

Stage 3: Background check

Time to completion: 1 to 3 months

The Background Unit conducts an investigation into who you are, your former employment, your education, and what your family, friends, and neighbors say about you.

During this stage, candidates undergo a drug test, polygraph test, psychological exam, medical exam, vision exam, hearing test, and a review of their court and driving records.

How applicants fail out of the process

Only 2%-5% of applicants successfully make it from submitting their application to graduating from the police academy. Why is that number so low?

One reason is the huge number of no-shows. Many people submit their applications but don't show up to any of the tests. The SFPD recruitment unit believes they can improve this number with a better applicant tracking system (ATS) that can send automated reminders via text message and allow easier follow-up with candidates.

But the failure rate is still high for candidates who do show up. Policing is not an easy job, and some candidates drop out when they realize that it is not the right career path for them. But for everyone else, there are many points along the way where they may fail:

Most applicants fail the written exam

Only 50% of candidates pass the written exam, while 80% of applicants pass the oral and physical tests.

To improve written test passing rates, the recruitment unit offers test prep sessions four times a year. Twice for the Frontline National Law Enforcement Test (NTN) and twice for the POST Entry-Level Law Enforcement Test Battery (PELLET-B). For the NTN, they have a specialized NTN instructor who has agreed to only teach the course with SFPD, despite being asked by multiple departments, including NYPD, to offer her course at their recruitment units.

The SFPD recruitment team shared with us that they would like to offer more test prep sessions, but that their current budget of $250K was not enough to do so. Their budget is already tightly divided between in-person test prep, advertising, and multiple fitness and oral preparation sessions per month.

SFPD background checks are rigorous and few candidates pass

The background investigation is the longest stage of the application process and used to take 6 months to a year.

It was clear from the get go that the background investigation team takes their job very seriously. Background checks are one of the most rigorous stages of the process and involve calling all of the candidate’s references (a list that includes and goes beyond your partner, family, neighbors, and former employers); reviewing their drug, credit, education, and criminal history (anybody with a history of domestic violence is immediately kicked out); and undergoing an 800-900 question psychological test. As one background unit member put it:

> “We’re really strict on backgrounds at SFPD, we don’t want to hire a Derek Chauvin. We will only hire the best.”
> - SFPD Officer

As a former candidate, and now police officer, told us, the background investigations are “legit.” The background investigators show up at your former addresses and interview your neighbors and family members. Candidates are expected to provide information dating back 10 years before the time of application. You can see the background investigation packet that SFPD uses here.

Most common disqualifications

• Lying on the application
• Drug use
• Undisclosed former crimes

Candidates must pass a 900 question psychological exam

The psychological exam is to ensure that you’re emotionally and psychologically prepared for the work ahead of you. The psych exam is made up of an IQ test called the Wonderlic, a 800-900 multiple choice psychological exam, and a polygraph test to evaluate your body’s reaction to stressful situations.

At the end of the background investigation, 2-3 psychologists, a lieutenant, a sergeant, and background investigator sit around a table to make a hiring decision. The candidate is scored and a decision is made collectively whether to give them an offer of employment, which advances them into the police academy. Unfortunately, many candidates fail this step.

SFPD recruiting is getting faster and more successful

Recently, SFPD got a candidate through the whole hiring process in 5 weeks. This was a very motivated candidate, where every one of their references picked up the phone when called. What used to take 6 to 12 months can now be achieved in 5 weeks.

Thanks to a supportive Mayor’s Office and Department of Human Resources, SFPD has seen significant improvements in their hiring process. In particular, these two reforms were key:

SFPD centralized testing so candidates can complete all tests in one weekend

Historically, the first stage of the application process involving the battery of tests would happen on different days and times, as would the prep classes for each test. This process alone could take two to three months. Now, SFPD is hosting testing weekends where a candidate can take all tests over the course of a couple days. Preparation for these tests can take anywhere from a couple weeks to several months depending on the candidate’s physical fitness and test readiness.

SFPD made the background check process more efficient

To speed up the background investigation process, the background unit has started to use investigation software by Guardian Technology. Applicants are coded green / yellow / red based on their battery of tests. For applicants who are green, they are fast tracked into the background checks off the eligibility list right away. Guardian helps centralize all of the background checks in an online database. Until 2024, all background checks were done on paper with investigators writing out all background checks by hand.

The background investigation unit now has 20 full-time civilian staff and software to track the progress of each background investigation. What used to take 6 months now takes between 1 and 3 months.

We have a top of funnel problem

Given the 2%-5% success rate of applicants, SFPD needs to increase the number of qualified candidates that they are getting who are capable of passing the written exams and background investigations. To do that, the SFPD recruitment team needs to be given the budget and software to attract more qualified candidates. Funding should be invested in applicant recruitment strategies that actually source qualified candidates, whether that be college visits or mentorship programs across the Bay Area.

One idea that we’re big fans of is the Law Enforcement Candidate Scholars (LECS) program at Sacramento State University, a university program to prepare current undergraduate students for a career in law enforcement. The program focuses on increasing the diversity of the police force and teaching candidates how to be agents of change in their communities and careers.

How you can help

It is so important that we address the staffing shortage in our Police Department to ensure every San Franciscan has clean and safe streets. We’ve seen estimates of San Francisco having more than 8,000 security guards, which is in no small part because we do not have enough police officers on our streets. A San Francisco where we have a shortage of well trained police officers is a San Francisco that will suffer from a double standard of safety. In such a world, areas that can afford private security will purchase it and those that can’t will experience the fall out that comes from not having a baseline of safety.

From day one, GrowSF has been a vocal supporter of well-trained police officers being a part of our community, to make sure that kids can walk to school safely and no one has to worry about violence where they live, work, and raise a family.

To support SFPD recruitment efforts, support GrowSF’s Invest in the Best Plan.

Support the Invest in the Best Recruitment Plan

Email your supervisor today to support:

• Increasing recruitment funding to support more test-prep sessions for police recruits
• Increase the lateral hiring bonus so that we can source the best police officers from other departments
• A special partnership between SFPD and San Francisco’s Colleges to support the next generation of local police officers
• Modernizing the technology that SFPD recruitment runs on to ensure our recruiting process is efficient and effective

Thank you for your support! In the coming weeks, we’ll publish more in-depth pieces on the state of public safety recruiting in San Francisco and how you can help make it more efficient, effective, and accountable.