Pueblo Police Chief Troy Davenport has a coherent and well-conceived plan for hiring the additional 24 officers approved by the city’s voters in the Nov. 7 election.

Asked for a status report last week, the chief said the Pueblo Police Department has 198 trained and certified officers right now. The department will reach and actually surpass its authorized strength of 207 in the coming months as recruits finish the police academy, followed by a period of on-the-job training they are required to complete.

A new academy with 20 additional recruits is scheduled to begin in March. The larger-than-usual academy class is designed to produce enough graduates to push the department to a projected 223 certified officers by the end of 2018. The final eight or so officers will be added to the ranks during 2019. This will fulfill the city’s commitment to add 24 new officers, thus increasing the department’s authorized strength to 231, a significant boost from the current 207 officers.

Read more at The Pueblo Chieftain.