Use of devices in hearings on radar of panel

Police, firefighter appeals are focus of proposed rule

The Little Rock Civil Service Commission will hold a meeting next month to consider imposing regulations on recording devices and other electronics during disciplinary appeals for police officers and firefighters.

The Civil Service Commission, a seven-member panel that oversees personnel policy, regulations and appeals for the Little Rock Fire Department and Little Rock Police Department, will meet on July 23 to consider adding a new section to the groups’ rules and regulations regarding appeals.

The new section will, in part, regulate the use of broadcasting, photographing and recording equipment. A first draft of the new section said “electronic devices shall not be used in the courtroom to broadcast, record, photograph, e-mail, blog, tweet, text port or transmit by any means.”

The proposed section went before the Civil Service Commission last year and was not voted on, pending further revision.

The revised section made available Tuesday would allow broadcasting, recording or photography as long as

the equipment will not distract participants or the commission. The section includes the caveat that an objection from an involved party or attorney would preclude the use of electronics and that witnesses may object to being recorded or photographed.

Anyone violating the electronics rule would be removed from the hearing.

The hearing will take place two days before the start of the disciplinary appeal for former Little Rock officer Charles Starks, who was fired on May 6 after the fatal officer-involved shooting of Little Rock resident Bradley Blackshire.

Starks is to appeal his termination to the Civil Service Commission on July 25 and 26. Starks shot Blackshire, 30, eight times during a traffic stop in which Blackshire drove a car forward and struck Starks first on the hip and then knocked him off his feet, injuring the officer’s knee. Starks was cleared of criminal charges on April 19.

Little Rock Human Resources Director Stacey Witherell said the commission has been working on the new language since last fall.

The section will also require that witnesses in disciplinary appeals leave the meeting room before the start of the hearing, except when the chairman of the commission allows the witnesses to remain.

The importance of removing the witnesses from the room, the proposed regulation said, is ensuring that the witnesses’ testimony is not influenced by the testimony of others.

Currently, the commission has no rules regarding recording or broadcasting in disciplinary hearings. The hearing, which will be public, will allow the option for commenters to speak. Written comments must be submitted to the Human Resources Department seven days before the hearing.