Santa Fe Standard

The Santa Fe Police Department is raising the starting wage for cadets to $21 an hour, hoping the offer will help them to fill 28 vacancies.

Last year's report by the National Police Foundation cited three factors that contribute to the department's challenges to hire and retain officers – low pay, insignificant raises and officers being drawn to the more competitive Albuquerque Police Department. The National Police Foundation evaluated the department's hiring, recruiting and promotions practices.

The new pay rate, which begins this month, will apply to all new hires as well as the cadets currently at the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy, four cadets who recently completed field training, and cadets hired in May 2019. 

“That increase for our cadets is long overdue,” Deputy Chief Ben Valdez told the Santa Fe New Mexican. “We would have liked to do about $20 [per hour] a year or so ago, but now it’s  ime for us to reset that to $21.”

In addition to the pay raise, the department will continue its $1,000 hiring incentive for cadets. It will also increase its hiring incentive for lateral officers, those who have completed police academy training and have been working in the field or those who have military experience, to $15,000. 

It takes nine to 10 months for a cadet to complete training. At the end of their probationary period, they become a Level 1 officer.