LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - The City of Little Rock graduated 33 new police recruits Friday morning,
the largest graduating class since 1995.
"They've raised their hand, despite those circumstances, and said 'I will go. I will serve. I'll put myself in harm's way to protect you.' It takes a different kind of individual to do that,” said Chief Kenton Buckner from the podium.
Over the last year, the Little Rock Police Department has made substantial changes to its recruiting process.
"One major thing being the structured interview. In the past, the structured interview was a pass/fail based on you having to make a certain percentage to move on in the process. We realized there were a lot of individuals we were losing in structured interviews, so we systematically changed it to where the interview is just a part of the process,” explained Sgt. Van Thomas.
Those officers are preparing to hit the streets under circumstances the last few classes haven't been able to enjoy. Violent crime numbers and officer-involved shooting are down city-wide.
A big change compared to this time last year when two numbers were much higher: the number of vacancies at the police department and the number of shootings going on across the city.
"I think you can attribute that to getting more officers out here,” said Lt. Michael Ford. “You can also attribute it to the roundup that we did, getting some of the key players off the street, that were causing a lot of this violent crime. And just having more officers visible out here in the open in the community."
Do you feel safer now than you did this time last year?
That's the question THV11's Winnie Wright brought to the 12th Street Corridor, one of Little Rock's most violent and troubled neighborhoods.
It's also just steps from St. Mark Baptist Church, where graduation took place.
"I think so. It seems like crime is going down a little bit. It's not as much as it was seemingly last year with gangs and all that,” explained Gisele Hudson. She’s hopeful the community will continue to feel more of the same.
"I do not,” said Shauna Conic. “I know that the numbers are lower this year than they were last year, but I did have a conversation with my son less than a month ago, who is eight-years-old, and he stated that he'd actually like to move out of Little Rock based on all the children that are losing their lives."
The police department said it will continue to operate on 12-hour shifts until further notice. And expects to graduate another recruiting class in August.