Three Denver police recruits were sworn in Monday and will begin patrolling the streets alongside training officers, making them the city’s first new officers in five years.
The three — Alan Ma, 37, Brian Beary and Brendan Simmons, both 27 — have prior experience as police officers in other agencies and were able to start 10 to 12 weeks of field training early. They were among a class of 31 recruits who . Their classmates will graduate on Oct. 23, Capt. Rhonda Jones said.
“It’s a really good class,” she said.
Budget constraints have kept the city from hiring officers since 2008. Dwindling ranks since the last hire have strained the force.
The recruits are among the 110 the city hopes to hire this year, with help from voters’ passage of a November ballot measure that raised taxes for police and other programs.
Sadie Gurman: 303-954-1661, sgurman@denverpost.com or twitter.com/sgurman
![[prison 19] Caption: This is Cellhouse 1, Pod A, from ground level inside the Sterling Correctional Facility which is located outside of Sterling, Colorado Thursday afternoon. Photographer: LEW SHERMAN Title: FREELANCE Credit: SPECIAL TO THE POST City: Sterling State: CO Country: USA Date: 19990617 ObjectName: prison 19 Keyword: PUBDATE____1999_06_22](/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/20151207__denverpostp1.jpg?w=538 "20151207__denverpost~p1.jpg")
