25-031 Q2 Recruitment Referral Bonus Program for SFPD Employees

One of the highest priorities for the San Francisco Police Department is public safety. Currently, we are experiencing a staffing crisis as the Department is short-staffed by over 500 sworn members. Because we are our own best recruiters, we are initiating a new Recruitment Referral Bonus Program. The goal of the program is to incentivize our own SFPD employees, both sworn and professional staff, to recruit future Q2 applicants to become sworn members of the San Francisco Police Department. 

Recruitment Referral Program Criteria 

Any SFPD employee who refers an SFPD Q2 applicant (Entry Level) that joins and successfully graduates from the SFPD Recruit Class Academy will be eligible to receive a bonus of $2,000.00 (gross, pre-tax, non-pensionable) upon the referred applicant’s academy graduation.

After the referred applicant graduates from the recruit class academy, the referring SFPD employee must submit a memorandum to request the recruitment referral bonus. The approved memo shall be forwarded through the chain of command and forwarded to Staff Services, who will review and verify the request. Upon approval, the referral request will be sent to payroll for processing.

Any SFPD employee who refers a lateral applicant, who successfully joins and successfully completes their field training program, will also be eligible for a referral bonus. After the completion of field training, the referring SFPD employee must submit a memorandum (same process as above). 

Although not mandated, it is recommended that SFPD employees maintain contact with their referred applicant throughout their Academy and FTO experience in order to provide guidance in obtaining the proper assistance, when appropriate. These contacts should not be conducted during the applicant’s on-duty training hours and should be in compliance with the Recruit Training Manual, Academy and FTO regulations. 

Referral Employee Eligibility 

All SFPD employees, both sworn and professional staff, are eligible to receive a referral bonus, except for the Chief of Police and employees permanently assigned to the Recruitment and Background Units. Additionally, 960 employees are eligible, provided they are not assigned to Recruitment or Backgrounds and remain active 960 employees at the time the referral request is made. Referral bonus eligibility will begin for new referrals submitted after February 12, 2025. In all cases, the referring employee must be an active SFPD employee at the time the bonus request is submitted. 

The cap for referral bonuses will be set at 100 bonuses per fiscal year. SFPD employees are eligible to receive multiple referral bonuses (one bonus per applicant) within one fiscal year. Any referral that goes past 100 for the year will be paid in the next fiscal year.

The Department reserves the right to suspend or pause the program at any time due to exhausted funds and/or at the direction of the Chief of Police at which time no further bonuses will be provided.

The Recruitment Referral Bonus Program Committee

The Recruitment Referral Bonus Program Committee would be required to review and approve all referrals prior to the issuance of any bonus. The Committee members will include the Commanding Officer of Staff Services, the Commanding Officer of the Training Division, the Chief Financial Officer, and the Payroll Manager. After eligibility has been verified by the Committee, the request will be forwarded to Payroll for processing.

Recruiting New SFPD Sworn Members

Any SFPD employee who contacts an interested applicant should refer them to www.joinsfpd.com where they can apply and learn more about a career in the SFPD. When the applicant completes the application, there will be a question which reads: "Were you referred by an employee or member of the San Francisco Police Department?" If the answer is yes, the applicant will need to indicate the name of the referring SFPD employee (only one person).

/s/
WILLIAM SCOTT 
Chief of Police

Per DN 23-152, all sworn & non-sworn members shall electronically acknowledge this Department document in PowerDMS within (30) thirty calendar days of issuance. Members whose duties are relevant to this document shall be held responsible for compliance. Any questions regarding this policy should be sent to [email protected] who will provide additional information.