Baton Rouge Police say they have been getting more calls than normal from people looking to join the force following the July 17th shooting that left three law enforcement officers dead.
“We have had an increase in phone calls of potential applicants,” said Sgt. Don Coppola.
The department is not actively recruiting as they continue to mourn the loss of their fallen, but they are happy they are seeing people interested in joining the force.
It’s not clear if this will ultimately lead to more applicants, but in Dallas following the shooting of five of their officers, application numbers spiked, by more than 300 percent.
As we saw in the July 17th shooting our officers ran towards danger, and Sgt. Coppola says to be a BRPD officer it’s a huge sacrifice with more than 20 weeks of training.
“That’s the purpose of our training to get you ready not only mentally and physically, but to help the citizens of Baton Rouge to the best of your ability,” said Sgt. Coppola.
He also says anyone who wants to join the force obviously has some big shoes to fill after the loss of two of their own.
“To even have an interest in this profession, there are pretty big foot steps there, and we encourage anyone who is interested reach out and get the process started,” said Sgt. Coppola.
Many in Baton Rouge hope people will still want to protect and serve.
If you have interest in joining the BRPD, you can go to their Facebook page here or call 225-389-3906.