By KEN CARPENTER
Great Bend Post
A Great Bend native is one of the newest officers at the Great Bend Police Department. Police Chief Steve Haulmark introduced Officer Christopher Kelso to members of the Great Bend City Council on Monday night.
“He moved back here about six years ago,” Haulmark said. “He and his wife decided to raise their family here. We hired him in August. He entered the KLETC in September and he graduated just this past Friday.”
The KLETC is the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center near Hutchinson. It trains the majority of municipal, county and state law enforcement officers in Kansas. About 300 officers enroll annually in the organization’s 14-week basic training program. Kelso will now complete training within the department before he is allowed to take calls on his own.
Hiring new officers has been one of Haulmark's main goals since taking over as police chief in January of last year. Kelso is the seventh new officer that Haulmark has introduced to the council since last October.