With a class of 12 recruits on stage Nov. 13 waiting to be sworn in as new officers with the Shreveport Police Department, Chief Wayne Smith approached the microphone and said, “Please stand.”
Several members in the audience began to rise from their seats, and Smith quickly realized he should have been more specific.
“Not you in the audience,” he said, to sounds of laughter. And then he seized an opportunity. “But if you think you’re built blue, we are hiring.”
Mentions of jobs has become a regular part of Smith’s presentations. SPD is down in numbers, a force with a ceiling of 581 officers operating more in the neighborhood of 430, even after swearing in new members…