The Grand Junction Police Department is increasing its staff after enduring a several year-long hiring freeze. According to GJPD Police Information Coordinator Kate Porras, the freeze started in 2009 after the economy downturned.

“The police department was able to fill some critical positions during this time,” Porras said. “But in the last couple of years, the number of openings grew significantly due to attrition and difficulty recruiting suitable applicants.”

During the freeze, there were just under a dozen positions that were vacant in the police department.

“We are still catching up,” Porras said. “The city just this year lifted the restrictions due to improvements in the economy, in addition to overall organizational spending reductions.”

However, Porras said the city has not allowed a fewer amount of officers to affect the safety of residents. While there are fewer officers, the Homeless Outreach Team and the Traffic Unit have been temporarily disbanded so that more officers can be on patrol in the city.

“The police department is constantly evaluating our staffing and where we assign our employees to make sure that we are meeting the needs of our community at any given time,” Porras said. “The HOT and Traffic officers are reassigned to patrol teams for now while we continue to recruit and train new officers.”

These new officers will potentially be pouring in within the next several months.

The GJPD has recruited qualified individuals for the positions and is currently in the process of interviewing and testing to fill vacancies.

If hired, the applicants will go through several months of training within the police department before becoming officers.

“Once our new recruits complete their training, the HOT and Traffic Unit will be reinstated,” Porras said. “We hope that will be possible within the next several months.”

kirick@mavs.coloradomesa.edu