Congratulations are in order for the 11 people who graduated last week from the Pueblo Police Department’s Law Enforcement Academy. In order to participate in last Friday’s graduation ceremony, the new recruits had to endure 24 weeks of training that tested them mentally, physically and emotionally.

They’re the academy’s 58th graduating class, but the first during the tenure of Police Chief Troy Davenport. They’ll spend the next 15 weeks doing on-the-job training with veteran officers, then they’ll be available for regular duty.

The community should welcome these new police officers with open arms. Most of them will replace officers who have retired or left the department for other reasons. There’s a constant need for new officers to replace the ones who are leaving.

Read more at The Pueblo Chieftain.