COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) says it now has the highest number of officers its ever had.
This comes after 31 recruits graduated from CSPD's Training Academy Thursday. The graduates spent the last six and a half months doing intensive training.
As we've previously reported, there has been an ongoing staff shortage at the department, and these new recruits should help with that.
WATCH: News5 Investigates: What's happening with CSPD's staffing?
"This class put us just with the May academy that starts here in a couple weeks," said Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez. "That actually puts us just over 800 officers and that's the first time we've even been that high. So the continuous hiring process is absolutely working, the numbers are really starting to increase."
CSPD says this class will put the department at 771 officers. Right now, the department is authorized by the city to have 819 officers.
____
____
Watch KOAA News5 on your time, anytime with our free streaming app available for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and Android TV. Just search KOAA News5, download and start watching.
