Las Cruces, NM (KKOB) – Las Cruces police officers could receive a pay raise if the city council approves a proposal during Monday nights first meeting of 2026. The proposal is aimed at increasing police officer pay to enhance recruitment and retention efforts. If approved, non-commissioned officers would get an additional 3% raise, while commissioned officers would receive a 5% increase. The current agreement with the Las Cruces Police Officers Association was signed in 2022 and expired in October of last year. That agreement provided an increase in pay to officers of 24% or $54,000 per year for trainees graduating from the police academy. The increase would take the annual salary to $56,000 per year.
Las Cruces Police Chief Jeremy Story, has emphasized the importance of reaching full staffing, stating, “Response times will obviously be less when we have more officers.” Currently, response times are about four minutes for priority calls and seven minutes for non-priority calls.
The Las Cruces Police Department currently has a police force of 207 officers, but it is budgeted for 220. With a population estimate for 2025 of 117,000 people, Las Cruces is New Mexico’s second largest city.
