LOUISVILLE, Ky. —

On Friday, the Louisville Metro Police Department welcomed more than a dozen new officers to its ranks.

Thirteen officers, who were a part of Metro Academy Class 62, were sworn in at a graduation ceremony at Southeast Christian.

These officers build upon continued recruitment efforts by the department to fill vacancies.

Currently, LMPD has 1,330 slots for officers, according to the department.

As of Sept. 1, there were 1,045 officers on the force.

That leaves around 285 spots needing to be filled.

The commander of LMPD recruiting, Sgt. Michael Jackson, says things are trending in a positive direction.

In their latest round of applications for a new academy in October, he says they received around 800 applications.

That's the most they've seen in a while.

"It is

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