An official with the Cheyenne Police Department says a combination of a lack of interest in law enforcement as a career and the difficulty in getting hired make it difficult to staff local police agencies.

Captain Mitch Maxwell says recent national events have increased the public scrutiny faced by police officers. He says officers are constantly under public scrutiny, whether they are on duty or off, adding not everyone wants to deal with that kind of pressure.

As a result, there have been fewer applicants for law enforcement jobs recently.

Maxwell says the other challenge to staffing is the intentional difficulty applicants face in becoming an officer. Maxwell says over the past year 95 people have applied to join the Cheyenne Police Department.

Of those only three have passed all the hurdles prior to the background check stage. Maxwell says typically about half of remaining applicants are disqualified by the background check.

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