BREAUX BRIDGE, La (KLFY) Recruiting and retaining officers is a growing issue within police departments, but in Breaux Bridge, an updated policy hopes to change that.

Breaux Bridge Police Chief Rollie Cantu told News 10 he doubled the length of his department’s contracts with new officers to two years in anticipation of a revised Louisiana law which went into effect January 1, 2022.

“You have to be within the academy within a year. If you don’t go within a year, you will never ever work within another department,” Chief Cantu explained of Louisiana Revised Statute 40:2402.

Starting this year, Louisiana law requires all officers, including reserve and part-time, complete P.O.S.T. certification training within their first year of hiring, even if they switch departments. According to Chief Cantu, that change fills a loophole.

“In the past, we had officers that would go from small agencies, they’d work 11 months, quit, go to another agency for 11 months, go to another agency go 11 months, and they’d make this circle, they’d avoid going through the academy,” Cantu stated. “We have to send them through the academy now.”

The inevitable training is costing smaller departments more money, especially because an officer already P.O.S.T. certified becomes a lot more attractive to larger agencies who won’t have to budget for the officer’s training and can entice them with a better hourly rate.

“That’s what’s happening,” Cantu told News 10. “Now because we have this, if you leave us, you have to pay us back.”

Breaux Bridge Police have long had a policy to where if a newly hired officer leaves within his first year, he has to reimburse the department for its sunken costs of uniforms, academy admissions, and hours paid at the academy. Now, that contract has been doubled to two years with the hope all the training paid for in Breaux Bridge won’t leave Breaux Bridge.

When asked what difference it could make on the department’s return on investment, Cantu said no one they have sent to the police academy has left since the policy was updated in October.

“We haven’t had it yet. We don’t know that. That’s the whole problem. We just started this,” Chief Cantu said.

According to the chief, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find applicants as well as qualified people who can pass every test to be hired as an officer. Cantu said the Breaux Bridge Police Department currently has six of 14 patrol positions staffed. Detectives are filling the gaps now, and two new officer hires in Tuesday’s council meeting should help.