Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins names Wayne Smith as police chief

Mayor Adrian Perkins announced the interim police chief Wayne Smith will fill the position permanently, at a press conference Wednesday in Government Plaza.

Perkins said he knew Smith was the right choice for chief even though he didn’t interview anyone else for the position.

Though asked by multiple reporters, Smith delivered no plan for addressing the Police Department’s massive amount of vacant positions. Smith said the 13 percent salary increases granted to his officers earlier this month haven’t yet produced a noticeable increase in applications.

Perkins said he and Smith will unveil a plan to address crime in Shreveport within the next 45 to 60 days.

”Out of all of the applicants, Smith has the most command staff experience,” Perkins said at the press conference.

In August 2021, Wayne Smith was named interim chief after former chief Ben Raymond was asked to resign. Council members felt Raymond was not properly addressing the city's sharp increase in homicide and other violent crimes, citing issues with emergency response time.

Look back: Raymond out as Shreveport police chief amid calls for no-confidence vote

“We will be committed to a great sense of urgency to improve the Shreveport Police Department on all levels,” Smith said at the press conference.

Smith has served with the Shreveport Police Department for 40 years and worked for the command staff for more than half of that time.

Smith still needs to be confirmed by the city council.

Nine applicants were chosen as finalists for the position. Applicants were required to have a mixture of educational credentials and job experience.

For example, applicants with a Bachelor's degree were required to have served eight years on duty while applicants with only a high school diploma were required to have 12 years. All applicants are required to have served in a series of roles where their scope of responsibility was constantly expanding.

All nine finalists were required to pass a qualifying exam with a score of at least 75%, which they all did. The only two candidates to score above 90% on the exam were Samuel Wyatt with a score of 94% and Marcus Mitchell with a score of 92 percent.

Smith's score was 89 percent.

The other six candidates for the position were Dorian Brabham, Jason Frazier, Marcus Hines, Michael Jones, Michael Tyler, and Kenneth Wall.

Kendrick Dante writes for the USA Today Network and is a government watchdog reporter in Shreveport, Louisiana. He enjoys cooking, concerts, and content. Email him at kdbrown1@gannett.com or connect on Twitter @kendrickdante.

This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins names Wayne Smith new Chief of Police