PCC graduates first cohort of Pueblo police cadets in effort to meet PD staffing needs

James Bartolo, Pueblo Chieftain
·2 min read

A partnership between the Pueblo Police Department and Pueblo Community College graduated an inaugural class of seven cadets from PCC's Law Enforcement Academy on May 10.

The seven Pueblo PD-sponsored cadets include Marquez Berumen, David Calzadillas-Chavez, Gerardo Cortes-Gonzalez, Joey Hart, Haylee Hook, James Laney and Nathan Sais. While PCC's Law Enforcement program has been in existence for decades, its current partnership with Pueblo police began last year.

Through the partnership with PCC, the Pueblo PD is able to more efficiently train officers without increasing demands for training staff. Cadets at PCC's Law Enforcement Academy complete an 18-week program in compliance with Colorado Peace Officer Standards and Training.

Graduates of the Pueblo Community College Law Enforcement Academy stand at attention during their commencement ceremony at the Hoag Theater on Friday, May 10, 2024.
Graduates of the Pueblo Community College Law Enforcement Academy stand at attention during their commencement ceremony at the Hoag Theater on Friday, May 10, 2024.

"This is one of many strategies we are utilizing to increase the number of officers working for our community," Pueblo Police Chief Chris Noeller said. "This combined with (Mayor Heather Graham’s) temporary changes to the civil service process have already increased the number of officers in our training pipeline to 19."

In total, the PCC Law Enforcement Academy graduated 18 cadets representing six different law enforcement agencies this spring. Of the 18, five — Janneth Herrera, Cody McCormick, Jonathan Meastas, Matthew Thrompson and Brennan Watson — were sponsored by the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office.

Other graduating cadets include self-sponsored cadet Jared Denney, Caleb Diggs of the Huerfano County Sheriff's Office, Alex Johnson of the Canon City Police Department, self-sponsored cadet Layla Kimmick and Brianna Massarotti of the Las Animas County Sheriff's Office.

The Law Enforcement Academy is broken up into a skills component and an academic component. Through the skills component, cadets learn about arrest control tactics, firearms, and law enforcement driving. The academic component covers a wide range of topics through classroom lectures and the use of a virtual reality machine.

The 18 cadets graduating from the Pueblo Community College Law Enforcement Academy represent six different agencies, including the Pueblo Police Department.
The 18 cadets graduating from the Pueblo Community College Law Enforcement Academy represent six different agencies, including the Pueblo Police Department.

"Say, for the first four hours of the day, they go, sit in the classroom and they learn all about domestic violence," said Leroy Mora, director of the Law Enforcement Academy. "Then we take them into our virtual reality room and they actually go through a simulator of how to handle domestic violence."

Mora also told the Chieftain that the academy is anticipating the training of 28 to 30 cadets in the upcoming fall semester. This includes self-sponsored cadets, those who are sponsored by the Pueblo Police Department and other agencies.

"We're taking on (Pueblo PD) cadets for the spring academies and fall academies... We're still working on possibly doing a summer academy here at the community college," Mora said.

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Pueblo Chieftain reporter James Bartolo can be reached at JBartolo@gannett.com. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: How PCC is helping staff the undermanned Pueblo Police Department