Task force aid not full time, 2 agencies say
Fayetteville, Siloam Springs to help FBI when needed
Two police departments recently said they will help a gang-related task force that’s forming in Northwest Arkansas but that they can’t dedicate officers full time.
A proposal concerning the formation of a Safe Streets Gang Task Force says the Bentonville, Rogers, Siloam Springs and Springdale police departments and the Washington County sheriff’s office “have made an affirmative action commitment to actively support this initiative.”
“It is anticipated that parttime participation will be readily granted by the Fayetteville Police Department, the Benton County Sheriff ’s Office and the Siloam Springs Police Department,” the document says.
The proposal came after the FBI’s Little Rock field office issued a news release last month about the task force’s formation. The news release said the task force will address street-gang violence, drug-related violence and specific violent-crime problems.
The investigation of other specific violent crimes such as kidnapping, bank robberies, drug-related murders and apprehension of dangerous fugitives continues to be a key purpose of such task forces, according to the release.
The task force is being formed after a series of violent crimes in Springdale last year, including two homicides that police said were gang-related, as well as gang-related shootings that injured several people.
Additional information about the proposal and how the task force would function wasn’t known because the document, obtained from the Rogers Police Department, had redactions on nine pages.
“The proposal almost exclusively contains information that involves active investigation into current criminal activities,” Chris Griffin, senior staff attorney and special deputy prosecuting attorney for Rogers, wrote via email before the department’s release of the document.
Siloam Springs Police Chief Jim Wilmeth said he brought up the general subject of task forces during an informal conversation with an FBI employee and others in the fall. He became police chief in Siloam Springs in December 2014. He said he brought up the subject by asking how task forces work in Northwest Arkansas.
Wilmeth said he remembered that the term “safe streets” was mentioned by someone during that conversation. However, he hasn’t had any conversations with the FBI about the formation of the Safe Streets Gang Task Force in Northwest Arkansas despite Siloam Springs being named in the proposal, he said.
Wilmeth said he wouldn’t be able to provide a full-time
employee to any task force at the moment. He did say he would be able to provide assistance if a task force needed help.
Fayetteville police Sgt. Craig Stout said the city’s Police Department doesn’t have enough manpower to be part of the task force. He said that if the task force were doing something in Fayetteville and needed assistance, the city Police Department would help.
The FBI’s Safe Streets Violent Crimes Initiative started in 1992, according to the news release. There are more than 130 task forces under the nationwide initiative.
The program allows the special agent in charge of each FBI field division to establish FBI-sponsored, long-term, proactive task forces, according to the agency’s website. These task forces focus on violent gangs, crimes of violence and the apprehension of violent fugitives, it says.
“The Safe Streets Task Force concept expands cooperation and communication among federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, increasing productivity and avoiding duplication of investigative efforts,” the FBI website states.
The proposal for Northwest Arkansas says the FBI’s Little Rock office; Bentonville, Rogers and Springdale police departments; Washington County sheriff’s office and the U.S. attorney’s office for the Western District of Arkansas are co-sponsoring the recommendation.
A page obtained from the Springdale Police Department shows Police Chief Mike Peters’ signature. He could not be reached Thursday for further comment.
Rogers Police Chief Hayes Minor confirmed the Rogers Department intends to take part in an FBI task force. The Washington County sheriff’s office has been in discussions with the FBI about the formation of a task force, said Kelly Cantrell, its spokesman.
Bentonville Police Chief Jon Simpson wrote via email Dec. 17 that the Bentonville Police Department hadn’t communicated with the FBI about a gang task force. When asked about the reference to the department in the document, he responded Wednesday: “Not sure why it says that … Will have to inquire.”
Keshia Guyll, Benton County sheriff’s office spokesman, wrote via email Dec. 18 that the office wasn’t part of the initiative. Guyll didn’t respond by 11 a.m. Thursday to an email sent Wednesday afternoon asking about the reference to the office in the proposal.
The proposal also references violent gang crimes in multiple Northwest Arkansas cities.
“The violent gang crimes listed in this assessment is primarily for the cities of Bentonville, Fayetteville, Rogers, Siloam Springs, and Springdale, Arkansas,” the proposal says. “However, violent gang crime activities are present in other cities/towns within Benton and Washington Counties, and within other counties identified in this assessment.”
The proposal was attached to an email from an FBI employee to area agencies. That email was sent Nov. 10 from Randy Jackson of the FBI to Peters, Minor, Dallas McClellan with the Washington County sheriff ’s office and others.
The email refers to the attached proposal and requests that the recipients review it and email back the signature page.
“This is the proposal we prepared which was reviewed/ approved at” FBI headquarters “and is being approved” by the U.S. Department of Justice, Jackson wrote.
The Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette has also requested a copy of the document from the FBI. David Sobonya with the FBI responded to the request by email. He wrote that the FBI received the request “and it will be forwarded to Initial Processing for review.”
There are more than 130 task forces under the nationwide initiative.