 - The Riverton Police Department welcomed three new officers to its ranks this week: Community Service Officer Connor Knop and Patrol Officers Dustin Pritchard and Zachary Bansavage.){kind=link}
(Riverton, WY) – The Riverton Police Department welcomed three new officers to its ranks this week: Community Service Officer Connor Knop and Patrol Officers Dustin Pritchard and Zachary Bansavage.
RPD Chief Eric Hurtado introduced the new employees to the Riverton City Council during a regular meeting Tuesday, and Mayor Tim Hancock administered the oath of office for all three. 
Knop has worked in the emergency response fields since he was a teenager, Hurtado said, including time with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Fremont County ambulance service.
The 2019 Natrona County High School graduate said he loves big game hunting and exploring, and he values time with family and friends.
Pritchard was born and raised in California, and he has worked for Walmart for the last 10 years, including the past two years as assistant manager in Riverton.
In his free time, he said he enjoys fishing, hunting, being outdoors, and exploring Riverton and the surrounding area. 
Bansavage was born and raised in Florida, where he served as a deputy for four years in addition to four years enlisted in the Army, Hurtado said.
“In his free time, he enjoys hiking, camping, and deep-sea fishing – which he might need to travel a little bit from here (to do),” Hurtado said.
26 of 28
Hancock thanked all of the new officers for “being willing to step forward and help serve the community.”
“I appreciate their hard work, and the chief for getting them here,” he said. “It’s exciting, trying to get up to full force here in the police department.”
Riverton’s fiscal year 2025 budget funds 28 sworn law enforcement personnel for the RPD, City Administrator Kyle Butterfield said, listing the chief, the captain, and the lieutenant, plus sergeants, detectives, and patrol officers, including those in the school resource officer program.
With this week’s new additions, Butterfield said 26 of those 28 positions are now filled.
“(That’s) really amazing,” Councilmember Dean Peranteaux said, acknowledging “the work and effort” it took “to get us to the 26 of 28.”
“It wasn’t an easy lift,” Peranteaux said. “It didn’t happen overnight. It took a lot of effort from a lot of people, and it took people with resilience and that passion for our city to make this work. … We spent a lot of time contemplating it, thinking about it, talking through ways to increase those numbers and how to pay for it. (It’s) been a community effort.”
For more information, call the City of Riverton at (307) 856-2227.