SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan has proposed a hiring bonus of up to $15,000 in order to attract experienced officers to the city’s police force.

Durkan says the city needs to jump into the nationwide competition for experienced cops.

Seattle has lost a lot of so-called lateral transfers to other police departments offering bonuses. Seattle also fell behind in salaries during negotiations over a new contract with the Seattle Police Officers Guild.

Officers worked since the end of 2014 without a contract until November, when the City Council ratified a six-year agreement, retroactive to 2015, that made Seattle officers the highest paid in the state.