(The Center Square) – Shreveport’s economic development team is collaborating with the Shreveport Police Department and the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office to recruit military police personnel preparing to leave military service.
Both law enforcement agencies are actively hiring more officers to reduce their staffing shortages.Recruiting former military security forces personnel is one way to find qualified candidates who can transition into law enforcement roles more quickly than inexperienced hires, officials said.
Bill Sabo, the city’s director of economic development, believes Barksdale’s security forces squadron maintains somewhere around 400 military police officers, some of whom will separate from the military while stationed at Bossier City.
When at their duty station, service members typically rent homes, enroll their kids in local schools and have a spouse working within the local community.
Transitioning service members are automatically fast-tracked through the hiring and training process for both the SPD and CPSO, according to a recruitment document. The police department’s starting salary is $49,578, plus incentive pay for education and certifications, and a $7,200 sign-on bonus; the sheriff’s office starts off at $45,700, offers many of the same incentives but adds a bump up in pay for military service.
Recruiting experienced veterans who already reside within the Shreveport-Bossier community could help address the growing demand for more law enforcement personnel while supporting veterans.
“Every business in the world says they support veterans and want to hire them but very few do,” Sabo said. “It started as just a general hiring of Barksdale people separating from the service – hoping to keep them here – and then we got more specific when we found out there were so many military police.”
Military police perform many of the same duties as civilian officers, including patrols, investigations, traffic enforcement, report writing and detainee handling, according to law enforcement advocates.
“When we met with Barksdale, they were very positive about it,” Sabo said. “In fact, they said we would be happy for them to take their training before they separate, so they could conceivably walk into a job here.”
Service members can apply while still on active duty and have their academy training requirement aligned with their separation date.
Sabo is working with Chief Wayne Smith and Sheriff Henry Whitehorn to develop a single flyer that includes the incentives and benefits of working for either agency. He stressed that his new recruitment program is in the early stages of development.
“Sometimes it’s just them not knowing that this is an opportunity,” Sabo said.