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Albuquerque Police Department recruiters are getting creative since learning they won't meet their goal of 1,100 officers on the force by the end of this year.

With hope of making that mark in mid-2008, Deputy Chief Mike Castro said recruiters will be hosting a women's health challenge, passing out recruitment fliers while running an Arizona marathon and mining other cities for recruits.

But all of this won't add up to much if the department and the officers' union can't reach an agreement on higher salaries, said union Vice President Ben Baker.

"Our recruiting effort is hindered in that we have the eighth- or ninth-worst pay package in the state," Baker said. "But I'm optimistic."

Castro is, too.

Both think that with a higher salary, more than $19 an hour, and with the continued creative efforts, the department will reach 1,100 officers in about six months.

As of early December, the department had 989 sworn officers, Castro said.

"We were up over 1,020 in September," Castro said.

With the 126 people hired or in training, there would have been no problem meeting the 1,100 goal.

But too many officers retired this year, Castro said.

"For my career, the highest number (of retirements) was last year, 60," Castro said. "This year, 53 as of Monday (Dec. 17). We didn't expect that early on in the year, but there is no way to accurately predict that."

Baker said one reason for the high number of retirements is the academy class size 20 years ago.

"Then they could graduate two classes of 50 a year," Baker said. "I went to the graduation this morning (Friday) and there were nine."

The graduating class was the third this year (usually they do two), another example of the department's effort to get more officers on the streets.

"Although we are too committed to reaching a specific number as a goal we are going to reach that and reach it in a correct fashion," Castro said.

Recruiters, he said, plan on taking trips to towns in the Midwest to recruit officers there. Their last trip brought in 35 candidates, 14 of whom actually are in the academy.

"And our recruiting staff is in a marathon race in Phoenix as a recruiting effort. They will have a booth there and they will be handing out pamphlets while they are running," Castro said.

The department plans to sponsor a women's fitness challenge in February or March for general fitness and to train women to take the test to get into the police academy, Castro said.

It also plans to put up billboards around the nation, including one in New York City and five in Detroit and Albuquerque. Television ads are also in force in Albuquerque.

"Retirements really hit us this year, but with all that we are doing, we are going to make it," Castro said.