The City of Albuquerque hopes a monetary incentive will entice enough officers to join the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) to build up the force with seasoned members of law enforcement.
APD is offering its largest hiring bonus in an effort to lure experienced officers away from other departments, KRQU reported.
"We're hoping that we can stay competitive with other agencies across the state with this push to hire laterals," APD Chief Harold Medina told KQRU. "It's a good push for us because it's a shorter academy and we get trained, seasoned individuals to come to the ranks in the department."
Right now the department is offering a $15,000 sign-on bonus for experienced officers who want to join APD and $5,000 to those just getting into law enforcement, according to KRQU. The goal is to build up the force to 1,200 officers, and currently it's about 400 short of that mark.
The department offered a similar incentive in 2018 which helped bring 60 new officers to the force within a year, KRQU reported.
Medina said their decision to offer the latest hiring bonus came on the heels of Santa Fe Police Department's announcement that they, too, would be offering a monetary incentive for officers to join their department, according to KRQU.
