Under the mayor’s proposed budget, funding for the Albuquerque Police Department would increase by $13.4 million — 5.2%.

The proposed budget of $271.5 million includes funding for 1,000 sworn police officers and 725 civilian employees. Much of the proposed increase has to do with personnel, including cost of living adjustments, an increased cost of insurance, and adding a couple more positions.

The target number of sworn officers remains at 1,100 — like it was under previous administrations — but an APD spokesperson said that figure “is a goal from the past and is unrealistic.” However, if the department is able to recruit that many more officers, she said there is a plan to pay for them.

“If the department reaches more than 1,000 officers, there is an administrative plan to request additional resources in order to fund the additional officers,” said Rebecca Atkins, the APD spokesperson. 

By mid-fiscal year 2024, APD had 856 sworn officers. That is fewer than in fiscal year 2023 and 2022 when there were 877 and 894 officers respectively, according to data provided in the budget.

Atkins said APD is more focused on a comprehensive approach to public safety than reaching the goal of hiring 1,100 officers. 

“That includes a multitude of things including civilianizing many areas of the department as well as advancements in technology, which have been a force multiplier for APD,” she said. 

City Councilor Dan Champine told City Desk ABQ that he thinks reaching 1,100 officers isn’t an unrealistic expectation, but it might take a while to reach that goal. 

“You have an academy class that’s six months long and you put 50 people in the class, so you do two of those, that’s 100 people that are going to graduate in a year and put out on the streets,” he said. “And during that one year at a time, you lose 60 people because of retirement or moving or life, so now your net gain is 40.” 

Champine, a former APD police officer, said if the department could continue graduating 100 cadets each year, it could still take a substantial amount of time to go from 875 to 1,100 officers. 

Recruits and retention 

In the last year, Atkins said the department has seen a record number of recruits and some of the largest cadet classes in a decade. 

However, she said 80 officers separated from the department during the last fiscal year: 40 officers resigned, 35 retired, and five were terminated.

The city’s targeted number of recruits for next year is 120, although it has not yet broken 100 in previous years. In fiscal year 2023, there were 85 recruits and in 2022 there were 95. By mid-year of fiscal year 2024, APD had 54 recruits. 

Atkins said a plan was put into place in 2022 to ramp up recruiting efforts for the Police Service Aide program because they’re a pipeline to future officers. Police Service Aides are tasked with handling minor traffic crashes, writing reports, managing traffic control and assisting with other administrative duties.

“Just in the last two years, nearly two dozen PSAs have become police officers at APD,” Atkins said. “We also currently have nearly 100 PSAs in the department, which is the highest number in the department’s history.” 

Once PSAs are qualified to become officers — usually when they turn 21 — Atkins said they can apply to become sworn officers. 

The department has also ramped up its recruiting presence on social media platforms, television and in movie theaters, Atkins said. 

“There will always be retirements and separations year to year, but, the growing number of cadets in our academy and PSAs who will become future officers continue to add to the department’s growing numbers,” she said. “We will continue our recruiting efforts…which have been successful in reaching qualified candidates who want to join the department.”