By Doug MacCash
The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate
NEW ORLEANS — Need a little spice on your shrimp po-boy? Reach for the hot sauce. Need a little spice in your life? Use the link on the hot sauce bottle to apply to become a New Orleans police officer.
Earlier this year, the New Orleans Police Department began distributing 500 bottles of Crystal Hot Sauce with custom labels that link to a website where career seekers can find out how to become a police officer. The bottles have been distributed to Lil’ Dizzy’s, Mother’s, Domilise’s and New Orleans Hamburger & Seafood Co.
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Baumer Foods, the company that has produced Crystal for more than a century, offers custom labels for businesses, individuals celebrating special events and now NOPD.
The NOPD pepper sauce bottles are marked with a diagonal blue sash, decorated with a central white star and the web address, joinnopd.org. A QR code on the back of the bottle is framed with the words “Get Behind the Badge, Apply Today.”
The key to the concept is that the spicy condiment captures the spirit of what people love about living here.
“You look at the bottle of hot sauce and you immediately think of New Orleans,” NOPD community engagement officer Sgt. Shannon Brewer said. “It’s inviting, comfortable, like comfort food.”
The bottles, which debuted during Carnival, weren’t just meant for locals; they were intended to capture the interest of visitors, too. Recruitment officer Sgt. Kurt Eischen explained that savvy travelers seek out places where locals dine.
“It’s like that old saying, ‘Eat where the police eat,’” he said. It’s hoped the hot sauce recruitment link might compel some visitors to make the city home.
“It says we’re hiring,” Eischen said. “We’d like to see more applicants outside of New Orleans.”
Brewer and Eischen said it was too soon to tell if the hot sauce connection has inspired any applications.
Hiring has been an issue for the NOPD since the pandemic. The total number of commissioned officers has lingered at around 900 since 2023, down from over 1,100 before 2020. The department has upped starting salaries, added enlistment bonuses and contracted with local advertising agency Brand Society to help pepper the ranks with new recruits.
The agency hopes to increase its staffing to 1,200.
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