by Wesley Harris
Ruston Police Chief Eric Watson is making it clear the city is facing serious shortfalls in police staffing—not just in numbers, but also in the quality and readiness of candidates. As Ruston grows, so do public safety demands. Watson and his command staff believe the current status quo is not sustainable.
RPD has roughly 48 employees. That number has not changed in 30 years despite significant increases in population, construction, and criminal activity. Of those 48, only about 24 patrol officers are available to staff four shifts. Two night shift teams and two day shift teams provide 24-hour coverage. Watson says that isn’t nearly enough patrol officers to respond effectively to public safety issues.
Watson estimates that in the near future, the department will need about ten officers per shift to operate effectively. Currently, the numbers fall far short of that.
RPD’s high standards is manifested in low numbers of new hires. Watson has conducted numerous preliminary interviews of prospective officers, but most do not result in a new hire. He won’t hire just anyone.
“I ask candidates eight questions in a preliminary interview,” Watson said in a recent interview. “I tell them there is no ‘right or wrong’ answers. I’m mainly checking their ability to communicate.”
In one hiring phase, Watson interviewed 19 applicants with his eight questions and only recommended one to continue in the evaluation process.
RPD found many applicants had difficulty communicating with some unable to complete a written paragraph.
Recruiting to law enforcement is a national issue. Some agencies that were requiring college degrees have backed off that requisite to be able to address severe understaffing. Others have lowered age requirements or loosened standards on past drug use, poor driving records, and criminal histories to fill positions.
Working in law enforcement in any community is increasingly a difficult sell. Pay differentials, expectations of public criticism, and risk are all factors. Even when compensation is competitive, potential recruits may be deterred by perceptions of the job, the work environment, and public scrutiny. RPD leadership says it’s not about money alone—it’s about finding people of strong personal character who communicate well, can do the job under stress, and interact positively with residents.
Watson said the department is working on a salary survey, analyzing what cities comparable in size and population to Ruston are paying and what incentives are provided beyond the base pay. He hopes the survey will be completed in a matter of days.
Ruston’s growth is putting extra strain on a department. Maintaining the same number of officers that patrolled the city 30 years ago is not a recipe for keeping crime low, Watson said. The community’s expectation for better policing—more specialized units, more proactive patrols, better response time—cannot be met with current levels of staffing.
Watson said RPD’s effectiveness is affected by its ability to staff special initiatives. He is concerned the department does not have enough officers to assign staff solely to juvenile crime. Efforts like DWI patrols and directed patrol units to focus on vehicle burglaries or other crime trends are harder to sustain without enough staff. Chief Watson has said some special initiatives are being held back or scaled based on how many officers are available.
Watson hopes to add ten officers by March 1—his one-year anniversary date—to match the population growth. Mayor Ronny Walker fully supports the idea, Watson said. That won’t meet the 10-officer-per-shift minimum the chief believes the future will require but it provides flexibility to respond more effectively.
Watson believes the department is on track to meet that goal, but it’s been one step back for every two steps forward.
RPD has hired 13 in Watson’s eight months on the job, but resignations and retirements have resulted in a gain of only five employees.
So far those hiring efforts have made RPD more diverse than the average American law enforcement agency. The ratio of male to female officers at RPD is 78% to 22% compared to 87% to 13% nationally. By race, the department is 64% white, 31% black, and 5% Hispanic while the national average is 70% white, 13% black, 17% Hispanic.
Watson wants to promote Ruston and Lincoln Parish as the best place to work in law enforcement in north Louisiana.
“This is Ruston!” Watson said, “One of the benefits of working with us is living here. Our schools, our low crime rate, our quality of life, our work environment should be huge draws to Ruston. We have to promote the community as the biggest advantage of working for us.”
While money alone doesn’t solve staffing shortages, competitive pay, benefits, special incentives, better shift scheduling, and support for officers help attract and retain personnel. New deputy chiefs for different divisions, directed patrol units, more oversight of units, peer support, and chaplain resources are among the changes intended to improve efficiency and morale.
Certified officers from other agencies have expressed an interest in RPD because of those advantages, Watson said.
Building trust helps with recruitment in two ways: the department becomes more respected and people who are more community-oriented may be more likely to apply.
Opportunities to move into specialized units, leadership opportunities, cultivating employee interests can help with retention. Job rotation, which allows officers to gain skills, is a priority for Chief Watson. He notes of the eight supervisors in patrol, only one has served in criminal investigations. Expanding cross-training is a motivator and increases agency effectiveness, he says. He wants to rotate patrol officers through the Criminal Investigation Division to develop in them the same skills detectives have. But to do so, more patrol officers must be hired to be able to detach staff to temporarily transfer to CID.
Ruston is not alone in facing police staffing shortages, but leaders there argue the problem is especially acute because the department has not grown with the city. Without significant changes in how officers are recruited, supported, disciplined, and promoted—plus stronger outreach and incentives—RPD may struggle to meet community expectations for safety, responsiveness, and professionalism.
Watson and his command staff refuse to lower recruitment standards to fill positions and continue to search for the best candidates possible.
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