SPD can’t hire stimulus officers.

Shreveport police department is supposed to get a cut of federal stimulus money to bring in more than 20 additional officers. But as Nbc 6 news reporter Karen Hopkins found out, there is a catch that could prevent the city from seeing any money at all.



Officer Kimberly Washington does her best to answer calls for help. "We need more officers on the streets." Shreveport is about a 100 officers short for a city its size, according to a 2008 manpower study. “If it were one of my family members, and we don't have enough officers on the streets, if something happens it could be dramatic if another officer is handling another issue.”

Shreveport wants to add 27 new officers. The city was awarded stimulus cash to hire them. But, as of now, it can't use the money. “In order to apply for the grant funding we got to get back to our baseline,” assistant to the chief Duane Huddleston says.

The baseline is the number of police Shreveport must have. SPD needs 18 more cops before its eligible to hire with stimulus money. Assistant to the chief Duane Huddleston says keeping enough cops on the streets is tough.
“Between now and August how many people are going to leave? We don't know, so we're always looking for others to fill those holes."

The department holds two academies each year. Huddleston hopes enough qualified recruits will sign-up. The city has three years to take advantage of the federal funding. “We can normally extend that if we show a good faith effort that we've done everything we can to hire."

The stimulus pays for officers salaries and equipment, but the city will have to pay about $40,000 for each car. If the city can't afford new cars officers will share.

Huddleston says the most important thing is putting more officers, like Washington, on the streets to reduce crime and improve emergency response time.

The stimulus grant covers salaries for three years.
After that, the city picks up the tab. Shreveport has no payment plan yet.