CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Falfurrias Chief of Police Will Barton said that prior reporting has helped him hire more officers, and some of those applicants could be from the local area.
Barton said that having more officers can help mitigate the spread of drugs on local roadways.
"If we have more officers to work the roadways and just do more stops, we would see a lot of this. Unfortunately, these drugs do run through this town pretty well, and we just need something to combat it," he said.
In a recent story, 3NEWS interviewed Barton about the shortage in his department, which has 13 officers, including himself, and four open positions.
"Hopefully one will be starting it next week and then the other one probably the week after and we will still have another two," he said. "I am trying to hold one of those for the police Academy though. I want to send somebody just to show that hey if you're local, do you wanna work here great will send you. It we will pay for everything."
Falfurrias officer Pedro Gracia expressed his anticipation for the upcoming officers who will join the department.
"Oh yeah, we appreciate any help we can get it's kind of a relief knowing that we're going to have more help," he said.
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