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Six people will graduate from the 54th Las Cruces Police Department academy this month, adding five to LCPD’s roster and one to New Mexico State University’s police department.
A news release announced the graduation and said a private ceremony would take place on Dec. 20 in the city council chambers at Las Cruces City Hall. The graduation brings LCPD’s total officer roster to 187.
The graduating class includes Vincent Montoya, Veridiana Porras, Juan Prieto, Alan Ramirez, Eric Reynolds and Jannette Soto, with Montoya heading to NMSU’s police department, the news release said.
According to a spokesperson, the Academy received 731 applicants for the 54th Academy and began with 18 cadets.
The news release also said that the six graduates received 1,164 accredited hours of law enforcement education and training.
“The bulk of the academy, roughly 60 percent of it, is classroom instruction while the remaining 40 percent consists of field training in and around Las Cruces,” the news release said.
The five LCPD graduates will be placed with other police officers, called field-training officers, for the next 14 weeks of their training.
Like many departments across the U.S., LCPD has struggled with recruitment and retention despite offering incentives like high starting pay and signing bonuses to new recruits and officers transferring from other departments.
LCPD offers recruits with no educational background a $11,000 incentive. The money increases for more educated recruits. For example, LCPD offers a $30,000 incentive to recruits with master's degrees in sociology, psychology, criminal justice or criminology.
Officials say the recruitment and retention problem stems from a competitive job market.
Despite this graduation, LCPD is still short of being fully staffed. The department is funded to have 220 police officers since the Las Cruces City Council voted in 2023 to increase the department's funding.
“The Las Cruces Police Department anticipates beginning its 55th Academy in the spring of 2025. Anyone interested in learning more about the Academy can go online at CLCPD.com,” the release said.
