By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Burqueños looking for a fresh hiring surge to put more police on the streets will find a different strategy in Mayor Tim Keller’s $1.47 billion budget proposal. The city isn’t adding a single new sworn officer position; instead, it’s betting on a massive internal shakeup to put more officers and Police Service Aides (PSAs) on the street without actually growing the department’s authorized headcount.
The mayor’s budget proposes 1,895 total full-time positions, but none of those new spots are for sworn officers because the department is already working to fill the vacant slots it currently has. If the mayor’s proposal is approved by council, total funded sworn positions remain flat at 1,150, which includes 1,100 funded from the general fund and 50 grant-funded positions, but at mid-year FY26, the number of sworn officers actually on the job was just 917.
To put more officers on the street without hiring new ones, the department is shifting 79 existing sworn positions from investigations and internal affairs into neighborhood policing. This is designed to strengthen patrol staffing inside the city’s area commands, where officers respond to emergency calls and carry out the department’s mission outlined in the proposed budget, “to build relationships through community policing that will lead to reduced crime and increase safety.” To make it happen, the department is pulling officers out of administrative and specialized roles. That includes 38 sworn positions previously assigned to internal affairs and compliance oversight, a change made after the city exited its 11-year U.S. Department of Justice consent decree. Another 40 positions are coming from investigative services units, sending investigators who typically follow up on reported crimes back into the neighborhood area commands.
The mayor’s budget also funds 100 PSAs, 50 more than this year’s budget, to handle administrative and non-enforcement work so officers can focus on policing. The plan is paired with $3.8 million for frontline pay raises to keep Albuquerque competitive in a tough national recruiting environment. To help pay for it, the budget eliminates 52 civilian positions and reduces command staff by eight roles, a restructuring the administration said will generate a net savings of $5.9 million.
City councilors will review the proposed APD budget at hearings set to begin April 30. Councilors are scheduled for a vote on May 18.