(The Center Square) — A recent update from the Shreveport Police Department showed an increase in officers at the end of 2024 compared to the end of 2023 and the SPD hopes to continue the trend at the end of this year.
Deputy Chief of Police Antwoine White updated the City Council in the public safety meeting this week on the department’s retention over the last two years. At the end of 2023, the SPD had 432 officers. By the end of 2024, the department saw an increase with 438 officers. White shared that this is the first time in a few years the department has seen an increase.
While there is no magic number the department aims for, Police Chief Wayne Smith shared an ideal number for their end-of-the-year goal.
“We are hoping to be close to the maybe 450 mark at the end of the year,” Smith said.
The current recruit class will graduate this Friday, adding eight more officers to the city of Shreveport.
“Generally our completion rate is around 60-70%,” said Smith about the department’s training academy.
Smith said ideally the department would like to have around 550 officers. He referenced a study conducted back in 2005 that showed about two and a half to three officers needed per thousand residents. This all depends on the demand for service, response time goals, and how much of an officer’s day needs to be proactive time, such as patrols.
Despite the difference in the department’s ideal number and the current number, they are still proactively looking to decrease crime throughout the city.
“Our demand for service is not as much as it was back then. Our technology has improved. We have embraced technology. This enables us to work a lot more efficiently than it used to be,” said Smith.
The department offers many incentives to officers as well as those who recruit.
For current employees, there is a firearm incentive. As of 2024, the department paid $215,000 for this incentive. There is also a physical fitness incentive that the department paid $103,500 in 2024. Additionally, there is a new hire incentive totaling $7,200 paid in increments. The lateral incentive is $5,000 upon hire and two additional stipends of $2,500 after 18-months and 24-months. The department paid $118,200 in new hire and lateral incentives this past year.
“Those incentives, we believe, are effective because of that retention rate. We’re having people leave at a reduced rate than we had the year before,” said White
The department also offers recruitment referral incentives for current officers, who hold the title of captain or below. This incentive is paid in three increments – $100 upon hire, $100 upon graduation, and $100 after the recruited officer completes one year of service.
Other updates concerned surveillance trailers previously discussed in March when the city saw an increase in shootings. Smith said there are two surveillance trailers available for purchase locally costing $37,000 each. The department is currently in the process of acquiring both surveillance trailers.
