The Denver Police Department added its newest class of officers to its ranks Friday, as a small group graduated from the academy.

The class includes 18 officers and an arson investigator for the Denver Fire Department. Though their graduation marks the end of their time as recruits, they will soon begin several months of field training.

Armando Saldate, the city’s executive director of the Department of Safety, thanked the graduates for making a challenging decision to become police officers.

“I know that especially in the times that we face today, emerging from this pandemic and all the trauma that our country and the world has been through these past couple years, it had to be an especially difficult decision.”

The new officers enter a department facing a sustained staffing shortage. The recruit class was an extra one approved by the city, and Police Chief Paul Pazen said it had room for 40 new officers — more than double the number that graduated Friday.

“It’s probably never been more difficult to be a police officer in our country, in our city. But it’s never been a more important time,” Pazen told the recruits.

He told The Denver Gazette that the next class, which will start Monday, is expected to have nearly 50 recruits.

The department has more officers leaving than coming in. Pazen said at a Citizen Oversight Board meeting last week that 145 officers left in 2021 between firings, retirements and resignations, nearly double the department’s average of 78 in a given year.

Pazen called the situation “horrible” against a backdrop of rising violent crime and more calls for service.

The academy gave four awards to Friday’s class of recruits. Jordan Hewitt received awards for having the highest marks among her class for legal education and the academic test, Brandon Bicknell was recognized for overall skills, and James Whisenton was voted by his peers as the most inspirational recruit.

The class chose recruit Siena Vessa to speak for them Friday.

“For six months, we have been learning how to be a Denver police officer. But our training doesn’t stop here. … It goes on for the rest of our career. Remember to never stop learning,” she said.

Despite the department’s staffing challenges, Pazen struck an optimistic tone in his message to the officers who were sworn in.

“You’re probably not going to remember too many of the words that were said at your graduation, but you are going to remember how you feel, and how you feel is that pride,” he said.

“I got just a little bit of advice, and it’s real simple: Work hard, work smart and treat people right.”