SHREVEPORT, La. — Questions about emergency response times at the Shreveport Police Department surfaced during Tuesday's Public Safety Committee meeting as city leaders discussed the agency's ongoing staffing shortage.
Police Chief Wayne Smith told committee members SPD currently has 417 officers and needs 164 more to reach its ideal staffing level of 581.
The staffing discussion prompted questions from council members about whether the shortage is affecting how quickly officers can respond to calls for service across Shreveport.
Councilman Grayson Boucher cited a recent incident involving a woman who reported a man attempting to break into her home. Boucher said the woman was told officers were delayed because police were responding to a shooting elsewhere in the city.
SPD officials later said the call was classified as a medium-priority incident because no physical altercation had occurred. According to Corporal Chris Bordelon, department records show the roughly 30-minute timeframe referenced during the meeting included the period from the initial call to an arrest being made.
Smith said officers are expected to reach life-threatening emergencies in less than five minutes and noted that the department continues to meet staffing requirements across its policing districts despite the shortage.
Bordelon said response times for calls involving injuries or immediate danger have remained consistent, although some non-emergency calls and traffic crashes have experienced longer wait times.
"Obviously, if we had more officers, we could respond faster," Bordelon said. "However, we have not seen a reduction in our response time to injuries and types of calls in which individuals are needing immediate assistance."
City leaders are also moving forward with a take-home vehicle program that will add 60 police vehicles to SPD's fleet this fall. Smith said the initiative is expected to increase officer visibility and patrol presence throughout the city.
Public Safety Committee members said they plan to revisit the issue in a future meeting to help the department works toward its staffing goals.
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