Law enforcement staffing crisis in SENM
Christina Holt/News-Sun
The Hobbs Police Department has a 33 percent vacancy rate for certified officers. But where does this stand in comparison in the region of southeastern New Mexico?
The challenge of recruiting officers is not just a local issue but one that is felt throughout the nation. In a nationwide survey, 70 percent of law enforcement agencies find it is more difficult to recruit than it was five years ago, according to the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
The News-Sun collected staffing data in March 2025 from nine law enforcement agencies in five counties of southeastern New Mexico to assess manpower shortages and identify the challenges departments are facing.
The consensus across the nine law agencies is that recruitment and/or retention is a major issue.
“For many different reasons, there are less and less men and women interested in working in public service each year,” HPD Chief August Fons said in an email.
“We once would see a large number of applicants every month and now we are lucky to see 20 applicants in a year,” Portales Police Department Chief Christopher Williams said in an email. “Of those applicants most will never return phone calls, many cannot pass the physical fitness standards and then the quality of the character for many does not meet the standards for an officer.”
Curry County Sheriff’s Office has the highest vacancy rate in the region coming in at 36 percent, according to the data. CCSO is the third lowest paying department of those surveyed, offering a starting pay of $23.80 per hour for certified police officers.
Hobbs comes in at a close second with a 33 percent vacancy rate and has a starting officer pay of $29 per hour, which is the second highest paying wage in the region.
The highest pay rate in the region is $32.38 per hour at Carlsbad Police Department and it’s the second largest department with 87 budgeted certified officers. But it has a vacancy rate of 20 percent, which is in the middle for vacancy rates for departments in the region.
HPD is the third largest department in the region with 86 budgeted certified police officers who service a population of about 40,500 in Hobbs. This equates to a rate of 2.12 budgeted certified officers per 1,000 residents.
The average ratio of certified police officers to residents should fall in the range of 1.8 to 2.6 per 1,000 residents, according to the International City/County Management Association Center for Public Safety Management.
Some departments use this ratio for staffing decisions, but other factors may be considered such as budgets, crime rates, community needs and workloads, according to ICMA.
Based on the ICMA model, HPD has enough positions budgeted for its population. But, with a vacancy rate of 33 percent, it is not currently meeting the minimum starting range.
The number of certified officers employed at HPD is 58, which equates to a rate of 1.43 certified officers per the 1,000 residents of Hobbs, below the suggested minimum of 1.8 per 1,000 residents.
“At one point, HPD was allotted 109 commissioned officer positions, which were never completely filled,” Fons said in an email explaining vacant positions versus budgeted positions have been a problem for years. “Over the last 15-20 years, HPD has likely been overstaffed.”
In comparison, Roswell Police Department is budgeted for 100 positions for a population of 47,109. This equates to 2.12 officers per 1,000 residents.
Fons said recruiting, retention, officer health and safety are challenges the department is currently facing.
“My interest and responsibility is to ensure that HPD maintains a professional and accountable cadre of commissioned/certified officers and civilian staff and to ensure that we are able to effectively respond to service calls from the community without undue delay,” Fons stated. “This may require difficult staffing and/or assignment decisions to be made which is what we have always done and will continue to do.”
Law enforcement agencies are implementing various solutions to remediate the staffing crisis such as using technology, streamlining departments, offer hiring incentives or using more civilian staff, according to the IACP. Agencies reported some success in improving recruitment and retention by creating new pathways for young people to become police officers, emphasizing a healthy organizational culture, prioritizing employee health and wellness, and investing in the professional growth and development of employees.
Lovington Police
LPD is the second smallest agency in the survey and finds it difficult to retain officers due to lower pay. To help with this issue, officers are allowed to complete certain certifications for a specific dollar amount to be added to their pay.
LPD has the third highest starting pay rate in the region at $28.31 per hour with a 13 percent vacancy rate. However, Lovington Chief Joe Clark said the lack of benefits offered is also a challenge and difficult to compete with larger departments with more financial resources.
The department has an adequate number of officers per residents according to the ICMA model.
Lea County Sheriff’s Office
LCSO is the fourth largest department in the region closely matching the size of HPD with only a one-position difference and the starting pay is $1 less. The sheriff’s office has the lowest vacancy rate in Lea County and one of the lowest in the region coming in at 11 percent.
Sheriff Corey Helton said recruitment is a challenge but not necessarily retention citing issues with New Mexico legislation not supporting law enforcement.
LCSO is below the minimum population/officer ratio standards model based on the approximate 72,101 residents of the county. However, Sheriff Helton considers the number of calls for service and traffic accidents instead of population to determine how many deputies the department needs.
Prior to Helton becoming sheriff, the department didn’t handle accidents. LCSO has doubled in size since 2018, according to Helton.
“We are so busy now, we are stretched thin,” Helton said. “We take calls in other municipalities when they need assistance because they are down so many officers. I am grateful we are in a position to offer assistance.”
Eddy County
The Eddy County Sheriff’s Office is slightly smaller than LCSO with a budget of 78 positions but both are tied as the fourth highest paid agencies in the region.
ECSO has the lowest vacancy rate in the region at 10 percent while Carlsbad Police Department has a rate of 20 percent with the highest pay in the region.
Sheriff Matthew T. Hutchinson said the challenges the agency is currently facing are the drug trafficking and substance abuse issues, the high volume of vehicle traffic, recruitment and retention.
“Adequate pay, high job stress, and national scrutiny can contribute to staffing shortages and morale issues,” Hutchinson said. “We offer reasonable scheduling, proactive communication and leadership accountability.”
Carlsbad Police Department Lieutenant Adrian R. Rodriguez said new leadership, rising crime rates and lack of prosecution of crimes are challenges the department is facing. Recruitment is an issue because people prefer not to live in southeastern New Mexico. It’s also difficult to retain officers due to burnout, he said.
Curry County
Clovis Police Department is the fourth smallest in the region and is more than double the size of the Curry County Sheriff’s Office.
Clovis Police Department has a vacancy rate of 14 percent offering the second lowest starting pay in the region of $21.14.
Clovis Police Department Chief Trevor Thron said juvenile-related gun violence, manpower, resource allocation to balance calls for service, proactive policing efforts and recruitment are challenges the department is facing.
“My vision is to foster a culture where officers feel valued and deeply connected to the community they serve and to make Clovis the premier law enforcement agency in New Mexico,” Thron said. “Law enforcement is more than a job; it’s a calling, and I want every officer to know they are more than just a tool for maintaining safety.”
Curry County Sheriff Michael Brockett said, “The shortage is forcing deputies to work additional hours during their assigned days off to maintain safe patrol levels. It is also more difficult for our certified deputies to maintain training requirements due to the need for them to be on the road covering calls for service.
To help boost our recruitment, Curry County recently raised the starting wage of a certified deputy to 23.80 per hour.”
Roswell Police
Roswell Police Department is the largest department in the region and has an 11 percent vacancy rate, which is on the lower end. The department offers the fourth lowest starting pay of $24.24 per hour.
Chief Lance Bateman said, “We can’t seem to get above water.” He meant this both figuratively and literally.
The city’s limited budget does not allow for increased pay for officers and the recent flooding damage to city property does not help the financial situation, he said.
Other challenges the department is facing include recruitment, retention and crime recidivism.
Portales Police
Portales Police Department is the lowest paid in the region and is the third smallest department with a vacancy rate of 21 percent.
Chief Christopher Williams said that pay, burnout and recruitment are the challenges the department is facing.
“We have invested heavily in our current employees as well as recruitment efforts,” Williams said. “We have continued to function short-handed thanks to our outstanding staff and have held strong to our standards of character even when it has meant that we would not be able to add to our staff. Our commitment to our community is not worth sacrificing just to add to our staff with candidates that do not meet our standards.”
The Artesia Police Department, Chavez County Sheriff’s Office and the Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to the survey.
Albuquerque Police
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham recently deployed about 70 National Guard personnel to Albuquerque Police Department in response to ongoing challenges the department is facing.
At a press conference on April 8, APD Chief Harold Medina said the National Guard personnel would help free up certified officers so resources can be out in the community.
APD is budgeted for 1,000 certified officers and has about 110 positions vacant, indicating an 11 percent vacancy rate.
“The last time APD had 1,000 officers was when the state allowed double dipping,” Medina said at the press conference.
HPD addresses severe officer shortage
With the Hobbs Police Department facing a severe staffing shortage due to nearly one-third of certified officer positions being vacant, HPD Chief August Fons has a plan to address the shortage.
HPD has budgeted 86 certified police officer positions but only 58 positions are filled, according to an email Fons sent in March.
Fons said in an email dated April 29 that recruiting, retention, officer health and wellness as well as increased state mandated training requirements are specific issues for HPD.
“Excessive overtime, fatigue, high stress levels on many fronts … increasingly restrictive legislation, lawsuits/litigation and constant criticism …” Fons said are challenges for HPD.
Other resources are being shifted to offset the certified police officer shortage, such as the real time crime monitoring center referred to as EAGLE.
“… sworn and civilian staff monitor hundreds of live-feed and recorded video footage throughout the community which is a substantial force-multiplier assisting patrol officers…,” Fons said.
HPD is also using more police service aides, like other departments across the country have. Police service aids are civilians who take calls where a certified police officer is not required.
“We have four police service aides budgeted and each of these positions is filled,” Fons said in an email.
If HPD is second highest paid department in southeastern New Mexico and the highest paid in Lea County, then why does the department have the second highest vacancy rate in the region?
“Certainly, pay, no matter what amount, is not the only driver of retention/longevity,” Fons said. “Every individual has their own reason(s) for staying or leaving… some are tied of the negative media coverage, societal expectations, personal stress frustrations within the criminal justice system, frustrations within the agency itself, disagreements with supervision/leadership, workload, expectations, problems with self-discipline/accountability…”
Fons also plans to address the vacancy issue with the following initiatives:
• Retention stipends based on years of service;
• Holding all employees accountable to professional, ethical and unbiased standards of conduct and performance;
• Having two full-time officers assigned to recruiting who are reflective of race and gender diversity in the agency;
• Recruiting officers are on a two-year performance-based rotation to ensure others interested may apply;
• Recruiting efforts are focused in the community, across the state and into Texas within a 200-mile radius of Hobbs;
• Reclassification of certified police officer positions as civilian positions;
• Increased use of local advertising, social media, radio and website;
• Professional appearance and absolute competence in addressing all questions and concerns;
• Use of the citizen’s police academy;
• Less dependence on job fairs and more meetings with people and extending an invitation for a ride-a-long;
• Recruiting at military bases.
