Survey: Pueblo 5th best midsize city in US for police officers, but recruiting is still a problem

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- The Pueblo Police Department is touting a new survey that ranks the Steel City as the fifth-best midsize city for police officers.

The ranking comes a week after FBI crime data revealed Pueblo has the most crime per capita in the state of Colorado.

AdvisorSmith factored in salary, cost of living and density of jobs for police officers in each city to establish the ranking.

Sgt. Frank Ortega, a spokesperson for the Pueblo Police Department says, "When you're a police officer here, you're not going to be driving around all day and waving to people. You're going to be handling calls for service."

The department is in need of 10 officers to be fully staffed. Their problem is recruiting new officers.

"If we could just get the applicant here. If they could see this department and the community, to me that is the biggest selling point," says Sgt. Zach Ballas, the training sergeant for the Pueblo Police Department.

He explains most candidates are worried about the public scrutiny and the attention police get following the split-second decisions they have to make.

The department says they are working to fill the spots in their department, but can't always count on candidates who make it through the academy.

Ballas says, "We have officers who come in and end up quitting or don't make it through the training."

After two more sessions of the academy, they hope to be fully staffed.