58°
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
7 Day Forecast
Follow our weather team on social media

Denham Springs Police gaining reserve officers

8 years 3 months 3 weeks ago Tuesday, December 01 2015 Dec 1, 2015 December 01, 2015 5:54 PM December 01, 2015 in News
Source: WBRZ
By: Troy Gaulden

DENHAM SPRINGS - After reaching out about the need for more reserve officers, the Denham Springs Police Department has nearly tripled its number of reserves.

The department has gone from five reserve officers to 12 in just three months. There's also 17 more applications on the table waiting for background checks to go through, according to Det. Glenn Lemoine.

"It is absolutely awesome. We were hoping for this type of turnout, and multiple people came forward to apply. It's just great. It's a major asset to us as well as the general public," he said. "It's a safety issue. If we have more reserve officers we can double them up in units and patrol cars at night time and day time. It just beefs up patrols. The more eyes on the streets the better."

Reserve officers in Denham Springs are unpaid volunteers who could end up full-time if a job opens up. The department often looks to reserves to hire within. Reserves typically start out working security at high school games and city events like parades. Then the reserves work with training officers on the streets.

"It makes me much more comfortable," said resident James Bohac. "That shows that our community is willing to step up and do what needs to be done to make ourselves safe and make our community safe and everybody comfortable where you can leave your front door open."

Lemoine says the current reserves are a mix of people looking to serve the community and others who are looking for a career in law enforcement. The department is still accepting applications for reserve officers.

Related Stories

More News

Desktop News

Click to open Continuous News in a sidebar that updates in real-time.
Radar
7 Days