Five new police officers started work this week, filling out the Jackson Police Department’s ranks after transfers and retirements thinned them during the winter.

Four of the officers graduated from the Wyoming Law Enforcement Academy earlier this month, three of them taking top honors. The fifth transferred to Jackson as a veteran of South Dakota law enforcement agencies.

Kyle Thomson, formerly a California building contractor, graduated from the academy as the top honor student, and was named among the top graduates in firearm skills. Garrett Kellams, a former Pullman, Wash., reserve sheriff’s deputy, also was recognized as a top shooter.

New officer Lori Miller, from Washington, D.C., joins the force after active duty as a Marine Corps captain. She earned the top marks for physical fitness in her class.

They are joined on the force by Kyle Cannon, an Army ROTC lieutenant from Pennsylvania, and Charlie Wharton, formerly of the Pierre Police Department in South Dakota.

The new officers will spend the next 14 weeks on field training, Sgt. Cole Nethercott said. That means they will work with training officers until sometime in October.

The police department hired the officers after two others retired and two left for other departments earlier this year.

All of the new officers started work with their first training officers this week, Lt. Bob Gilliam said. They will work with two more experienced officers before they finish field training, Nethercott said.