Community policing unit set to start soon in Hot Springs

HOT SPRINGS — The Community Policing Response Team, the newest unit of the Hot Springs Police Department, will be activated next week, interim Police Chief Billy Hrvatin told the Civil Service Commission Wednesday.

The federal Community Oriented Policing Services grant the department won in 2021 enabled the formation of the five-officer unit. Two of the positions will be filled next week. The rest will be staffed when the grant-funded positions are filled, backfilling veteran officers who transfer to the new unit.

The $625,000 U.S. Department of Justice grant will pay 75% of five new officers’ salaries and benefits for three years. The city will be responsible for fully funding the positions for at least one year after the grant ends.

Hrvatin said the new unit will have multiple roles.

“They’ll be working in high-crime areas,” he told the commission. “They’ll be assisting our [criminal investigation division] in investigations and surveillance and the narcotics unit, too. They’ll be going to community meetings, town hall meetings. I really want them to be out there to listen to the people and listen to their problems and be the unit that can respond to that.”

Hrvatin said the officers won’t be assigned to a specific geographic area.

They will also patrol Mountain View Heights, the 365 units the Hot Springs Housing Authority converted to Section 8 housing in 2018.

The $16.81 million 2023 police fund budget includes 115 uniformed positions. Hrvatin said six, including the grant-funded positions, are vacant. Five rookies are expected to conclude field training at the end of March, and two are at the Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy.