NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Officer recruitment has been a major storyline for the New Orleans Police Department for quite some time. The department has hosted multiple job fairs, hoping to increase the size of its police force. The most recent is Wednesday, May 15.
“We’re trying to obtain more officers to become police recruits for the New Orleans Police Department due to the lack of police officers,” said NOPD Officer Cortez Hankton. “We also just are doing to help provide security for the community.”
Around this time last year, the City of New Orleans was fined millions of dollars by a police retirement group because the department was losing officers. Now, they’re trying to change that.
“The $20,000 signing bonus and good benefits, great benefits as a career, not just a job,” said Hankton.
The salary for recruit candidates starts at $42,449 and rises to $59,014 per year, or $61,014 per year with a qualified bachelor’s degree after one year of service, with additional incentive payments for bilingual officers, college degrees, merit pay and more.
A salary calculator is posted on the Join NOPD website. After filling out the questions, your estimated pay will be calculated.
However, Hankton says that’s not the main message he wants to get across.
“We like to let them know they are just like us. We are human and we all want to do the same thing. The main objective is to keep the city and citizens safe in New Orleans,” said Hankton.
The NOPD currently has 895 commissioned officers, a slight decrease from this time last year, when 915 officers were employed with the NOPD.
Hankton says the job fairs have been positive in recruiting new hires, but he believes the biggest incentive should be the reward you get from helping the community.
“I started in 1991, and it’s been 32 years. I’ve been excited the whole time and enjoyed it,” said Hankton.
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