SAN DIEGO (CNS) - Mayor Kevin Faulconer and San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit have launched a digital marketing campaign that aims to fill more than 200 positions that are currently vacant in the department, the mayor announced Thursday.
Downtown-based Loma Media will run the marketing campaign, which includes videos that will be shared on social media as well as a new recruitment website, with the goal of fully staffing the department by 2020, Faulconer said.
"Getting the San Diego Police Department back to full staffing of over 2,000 officers is a top priority," Nisleit said in a statement.
In December 2017, the City Council approved an agreement to boost salaries for San Diego police officers through the 2020 fiscal year.
Since the raises were announced, the number of officers lost to other law enforcement agencies is down 84 percent from last year, Faulconer said.
"The best way to keep San Diego one of the safest big cities in the country is by attracting the best and brightest recruits to the San Diego Police Department," Faulconer said in a statement. "We're going to be innovative and creative in how we do that."
Loma was one of four companies that responded to a request for proposals issued by SDPD earlier in the year. A panel selected the firm because of its social media expertise and prior clients, which included the U.S. Naval Special Warfare Command, Semper Fi Fund, UC San Diego and Google, among others.
The $350,000 contract with Loma, which was approved in June, lasts two years, with an option to extend the contract for up to three more years.
Funding for the first two years of the marketing contract was included in the current fiscal year budget.
