SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Voters will soon elect a new City Marshal, and months after his re-election to the Shreveport City Council, District D representative Grayson Boucher is asking voters to choose him for the marshal’s office.

Shreveport District D City Councilman, Grayson Boucher, is one of four candidates seeking the position in the March 25 election.

Boucher wants to take his background in public safety, private business, and municipal government to take on the role.

“I think the City Marshal’s Office is underutilized right now. They have a fairly decent size budget. Some of the money I feel like needs to go to a crime protection program and a crime awareness program,” Boucher said.

He wants to refocus the City Marshal’s resources to help the Shreveport Police Department better.

“There are all kinds of things I think the City Marshal could be doing to help supplement SPD. The Shreveport Police Department is down 150 officers. They need help. If there’s any way the marshal could use his budget to help supplement SPD. Not take their place but supplement during peak crime hours, then I think that’s one good thing,” Boucher said.

If elected, he has plans to tackle crime. That plan would include a violence prevention program in Caddo schools to teach de-escalation before gun violence and pledge more deputies during summer hours. As a councilman and chairman of the public safety commission, Boucher said he is familiar with the marshal’s budget and would start with a pay cut from the $180,000 salary.

“I plan to reduce the pay by 25%, which would generate enough money for me to be able to put the violence program into effect. I would be able to hire another deputy to do that,” Boucher said.

Boucher also served on the Caddo 911 Board, was a Justice of the Peace, and started his career in public service as a firefighter before he became the Fire Chief for Caddo District 5 for 11 years.

“I managed a $3.1 million budget at Caddo Fire District 5. So I’ve been both an administrator of a fairly decent size municipal budget, but I’ve also been the legislator. So I have a really good understanding of public safety and how it works in Shreveport,” he said.

As a councilman, Boucher voter for pay raises for police, fire, and employees of the city marshal. He believes the budget inside the marshal’s office needs to be reanalyzed.

“I want to be fiscally conservative with that money. I want to run the office as fiscally as I can. The marshal’s office has great equipment. They have great people working there. I think Charlie Caldwell was a wonderful man. But it may be time for a change.”

He explains why he wants to leave the city council for the marshal’s office.

“I’m very goal-oriented, and in the city council, it’s very hard to be goal-oriented. Because you have six council members and a mayor to convince your ideas are good. I just don’t feel like I accomplished everything that I wanted to,” Boucher said. “I think I’ve been able to help my constituents when they need. But it still hasn’t hit that goal of what I imagined a city councilman would be able to do in a four-year period. With the City Marshal, there is a good bit of autonomy. So there are decisions that can be made by the marshal to do things and I think I am the man who can do that.”

Besides his public service roles, Boucher is a husband and father who is also continuing his family’s longtime business in real estate.

Election Day is March 25. Early voting begins Saturday, March 11 until March 18.