Santa Cruz Police is set to crowdsource the hiring of lateral transfer police officers. Any community member who knows of a top-notch cop, one who is ready for a new venue, we are willing to pay you, the community member, $ 2,000 for pointing the seasoned officer our direction. The City will pay the referring citizen $ 1,000 when the officer is hired, and another $ 1,000 when probation is completed. We also offer a $ 20,000 hiring bonus for the officer.
The City Manager has approved for SCPD to over hire five (5) positions. This allows SCPD to plan for retirements and other vacancies as we plan ahead. We prefer to fill these over-hire positions with qualified laterals candidates to put boots on the ground, rather than bottoms in an academy chair.
So, if you know a caring, smart, innovative and yet tenacious police officer, one who is battle tested and yet still has a great attitude, Santa Cruz may be the spot for her/him. The officer can come from any state that is POST certified.
Warning: the officer will have to like sunshine, whales, surfing and a hip beach vibe. Oh yeah, we pay 100K and a great deal of overtime on top of that. You can call my office at (831) 420 5810 or have the officer apply on-line at
A vIsitor’s view of Santa Cruz
Andrew Mills - Chief of Police - Palm Springs 