Sessions wrap up in hunt for police chief

The last of the Little Rock police chief candidate interviews wrapped up Thursday as Assistant Chief Alice Fulk walked out of City Hall around 2:30 p.m.

Fulk met Thursday morning and afternoon with interested groups, Mayor Frank Scott Jr. and members of the city’s Civil Service Commission. She was the last of the four finalists to interview for the job.

Fulk is one of two internal candidates. The other is Assistant Chief Hayward Finks. The two outside candidates — former Los Angeles police commander Todd Chamberlain and Norman, Okla., Police Chief Keith Humphrey — visited Little Rock over the past two weeks.

Scott said Wednesday night that the next step for his office would be to gather and review input from the Little Rock Black Police Officers Association, the Civil Service Commission, community members, the Fraternal Order of Police, his leadership team and the city board of directors.

Though he had no definite timeline for making his selection, Scott said he hoped to decide in the next “few” weeks.

The chief’s position was vacated in mid-November. Former Chief Kenton Buckner left to lead the Syracuse, N.Y., department. The three assistant chiefs — Finks, Fulk and Wayne Bewley — rotated as the interim chief until February, when Bewley retained the position.

Scott said Wednesday that Bewley would remain as chief until the search is complete.

On Thursday, Fulk met with Civil Service Commission members Henry Akins II, Jeffrey Hildebrand and Efrem B. Neely Sr.

Hildebrand began the meeting by jumping directly into a problem he said he’s encountered often as a commissioner.

The Civil Service Commission is made up of seven residents who are responsible for overseeing personnel disputes, promotions, and regulation or policy violations involving the Little Rock fire and police departments. In recent months, many commission meetings have focused on hearing officers contest their suspensions or other disciplinary actions.

Hildebrand said in many of the cases, he’s left with an unsettling perception.

“There’s no consistency in punishment,” Hildebrand said.

One officer received a 30-day suspension for something for which another officer received a three-day suspension, Hildebrand said. It “doesn’t send a clear message” to the officers.

“I’m looking for consistency because there are divisions in the department,” he said.

Hildebrand, who has been on the commission for 12 years, said the consistency “has gotten worse every year.” He asked what Fulk would do to rectify that if she becomes chief.

Fulk said the department has tried in the past to set up a threat matrix and follow it in disciplining officers, but those attempts largely have failed because each officer’s case is different.

Instead, Fulk said she believes consistency must begin with the command staff and the captains. If the supervisors — who oversee all disciplinary recommendations before they are passed on to the chief of police — are on the same page, Fulk said, consistency will follow.

Neely asked about the causes of division within the department. He wondered if there are differences in how the Fraternal Order of Police treats black officers.

Fulk, who is a member of the Little Rock Fraternal Order of Police, said she did not think the organization as a whole marginalizes black police officers but there are cases where individuals in the union might have gotten that perception.

Fulk said she helped organize a Unity Ball for the Fraternal Order of Police and the Black Police Officers Association, which she said is one small step toward unifying the department.

“I want them to do more than that, but this is a step,” Fulk said. “Both sides have seemed really receptive.”

Hildebrand also asked if Fulk believes that her plan to assign a police officer to each city block and ask the officer to attempt to communicate with every resident on that block each week is “a little ambitious.”

Fulk said the effort might be taxing at first, but the result would be better relationships between police and residents.

“It’s trying to show the community we’re taking a step in the right direction,” Fulk said. “If we don’t build back some of that trust, I don’t think it’ll ever get fixed.”