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Nogales police association warns council of deep officer attrition and pay gap
Summary
Jose Pimenta, president of the Nogales Police Officers Association, told the council the department has cycled through 72 officers since 2019, now fields about 38 active officers and seeks fairer starting pay to reduce departures to other agencies.
Jose Pimenta, president of the Nogales Police Officers Association, told the City Council on Feb. 4 that the police department has experienced sustained staff losses that he said threaten public safety. "We've gone through 72 officers" since 2019, Pimenta said, and the department currently has about 38 officers available for patrol, detectives and specialty assignments (not counting two in current field training and three in the academy).
Pimenta said 34 officers — roughly 47% of departures he cited — left for other departments, while an additional set of retirements, resignations and deaths brought the total separations to 72. He told the council the department should be staffed near 60 officers and that current recruiting and training costs are high: "When we train people and we hire them ... the costs are up to about $133,000 per officer," which he estimated as roughly $2.5 million in investment lost when recruits leave before completing training.
Pimenta also flagged pay as a factor in departures. He said the current starting pay for an officer is $22.32 an hour and compared that with rising minimum wage levels, arguing the relative gap has narrowed and makes retention more difficult for frontline officers. "We're not asking to be rich," he said. "We're just asking for fair compensation because 34 people leaving to other agencies hurts this department, and it hurts the community really bad."
Council members did not vote on any personnel changes during the meeting. Mayor Jorge Maldonado and staff acknowledged the presentation and several council members indicated they would discuss the staffing and compensation issues with city management and at future meetings.
The council meeting included other items on the agenda, including housing and infrastructure proposals, but Pimenta’s remarks were a prominent public-comment appeal that drew attention to recruitment, retention and the budgetary and operational impacts of turnover.
The city has not provided a formal written staffing plan or compensation proposal in the meeting record; Pimenta said he will reach out to the mayor and individual council members to look for solutions.
