Proposal seeks to add 375 APD officers
Charter amendment would cost the city an additional $16 million
Two Albuquerque city councilors plan to introduce a charter amendment that, if approved, would require the city to increase the number of sworn officers it currently has by about 375.
Councilors Don Harris, a Republican, and Ken Sanchez, a Democrat, announced their charter amendment proposal during a news conference Wednesday.
“People in Albuquerque today do not feel safe,” Sanchez said. “I am very concerned. I go to community meetings and that’s the No 1 concern — safety. They don’t feel safe in their homes.”
Specifically, the proposed amendment would require the city to have 25 sworn police officers for every 11,500 residents, in effect mandating a police force of about 1,215. As of Monday, the Albuquerque Police Department had 839 sworn officers, according to the Mayor’s Office. APD is actually budgeted for 1,000 officers, but the department has had difficulty filling those positions.
Harris said the proposed staffing requirement would put Albuquerque in line with cities like Denver, Nashville and Louisville, Ky.
Sanchez and Harris plan to introduce the charter amendment during Monday’s council meeting, although a vote on it is likely weeks, if not months, away.
At least six of the city’s nine councilors would need to vote for the amendment in order to get it
on the Oct. 3 ballot. If the amendment were to be approved by voters, it would go into effect on July 1, 2019.
Harris estimated that boosting APD staffing to the levels called for in the measure would cost the city an additional $16 million, or 3 percent of the city’s general fund budget.
He said the amendment would force the administration and City Council to prioritize recruitment and retention of officers. Harris said the city would have to figure out how to come up with the additional $16 million. But he said a decrease in crime would lead to an increase in economic development and that would result in increased tax revenues for the city.
The proposal received a lukewarm response from the Mayor’s Office.
“This past year, APD has worked very hard to recruit highquality individuals, resulting in the most graduating cadets the city has seen in 10 years,” said Rhiannon Samuel, Mayor Richard Berry’s spokeswoman.
“The prospect of going to (a) population-based model versus a workload model for police department staffing is certainly an interesting option to put to Albuquerque voters,” she added. “In the meantime, we will continue to grow our department with exceptional officers as we work to address our repeat offender problem.”
Sanchez acknowledged that achieving the staffing level that is proposed would be a challenge. He said the city could hire more public safety aides, because several of them move on to become officers. Sanchez said the city also needs to ramp up its recruitment efforts and provide competitive pay for officers.
Harris said APD salaries are competitive for officers with up to five years of experience. But he said salaries for officers with more experience are not competitive.
Sanchez and Harris, both of whom are seeking re-election, said they plan to introduce an amendment to the mayor’s proposed budget that would increase the number of budgeted officer positions and provide significant raises to APD officers with more than five years of experience.