SFPD deferred retirement program proposal gets mixed reactions NBC Bay Area [Video]

San Francisco leaders are proposing a program to offer some veteran police officers hefty pay increases to entice them to keep working past their retirement.

San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said the department has been able to fill all some gaps with overtime, and recruitment is up along with applications.

“We are about 500 officers less than we need to be,” he said. “On the back end if we could slow down the stem of retirement, that’s the biggest impact of DROP.”

DROP is the deferred retirement option program. It could allow some officers to put off retirement up to five years in exchange for a pay boost.

“We will have higher compensation and some lower, but were talking about figures to the tune of an average officer will earn $437,000 in their first year, an average inspector $522,000,” said San Francisco Supervisor Hillary Ronen.

Ronen agreed that there …