8 new officers join SPD; department remains 150 officers short

SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) - It’s a statistic we hear many times when a violent crime has happened in Shreveport: the city is down more than 100 officers. People living in Shreveport neighborhoods want to see something done.

On Friday, May 26, the city filled that gap, by a few at least, as several new officers took the oath to protect and serve the Shreveport community.

“Well, we got eight more officers on the street, so I’m very excited about that,” said Mayor Tom Arceneaux.

The Shreveport Police Department held its commencement ceremony Friday morning. Eight new officers have joined the force. The new additions to SPD come as they still face a significant shortage of officers. SPD says they need 150 more officers to be fully staffed. Chief Wayne Smith is excited for the new officers that have joined though.

“Where eight new police officers for the Shreveport Police Department and three for the DeSoto Parish Sherriff’s Department went through the months of rigorous training and will now begin their field training process. And even though we’re suffering from some shortage, we have an intensified effort to hire more and bring more recruits into our fold,” the chief said at the graduation ceremony.

The new officers will have to go through an additional year-long training session working with experienced officers before they will be on their own.

“They have joined our family and for most of them, probably beginning today, they will begin their training process actually out in the field,” Chief Smith said.

“I’m very excited. When I arrived here at the state museum, I wanted to cry so bad because time was winding down and it was getting closer and closer to graduation, but my classmates, oh my gosh, they’re amazing. We helped each other get through this process. It was just overall feeling I’m happy for each of us,” said Officer Kourtney Jackson, who graduated Friday.

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