A new group of NOPD academy graduates join the force Friday.
New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick says recruiting is going strong, and they may hit a milestone next year.
The chief said this class will bring their total number of police officers up to 926.
"We have about 50 others in cue as recruits who, hopefully within the next six months to nine months, will bring us closer to a thousand," she told WWL's Newell Normand.
Kirkpatrick says they do have to fight against attrition -- she says they typically lose around 75 officers a year to transfers, retirement, resignation, or firing. But she also says they have improved recruiting since taking those duties on in-house.
"We have improved our recruiting applicant pool by 47 percent," said Kirkpatrick, "and that's tough because we're competing with wonderful agencies: Baton Rouge, our state police, our sheriff's offices."
Recruiting improving, growing ranks, chief says
Recruiting improving, growing ranks, chief says
