Filing claims acts of reprisal by Little Rock police chief

LITTLE ROCK — An assistant police chief in Little Rock who testified the mayor pushed department leadership into rushing an internal investigation into last year’s fatal shooting of a car-thief suspect claims in a lawsuit filed Wednesday that Chief Keith Humphrey has been punishing him for his statements ever since.

Hayward Finks, an assistant chief for eight years, accuses Humphrey of engaging in a “campaign of retaliation” against him, describing in the lawsuit a vendetta began almost as soon as Finks told the city Civil Service Commission about his concerns last year.

Finks, 50, described the internal investigation as incomplete and “rushed” at “inappropriate” speed because of pressure from Mayor Frank Scott Jr.

Finks made his remarks at a July commission hearing regarding Humphrey’s decision to fire officer Charles Starks for violating department protocols leading up to Starks’ fatal confrontation with 30-year-old Bradley Blackshire in February 2019.

“Finks told nothing but the truth regarding the investigation into Officer Starks’ shooting of Blackshire,” the lawsuit states. “This testimony contradicted Chief Humphrey and cast his leadership in a bad light.”

Two other officers, fellow Assistant Chief Alice Fulks and Sgt. Tori Trammell, told commissioners the same thing, the Pulaski County Circuit Court lawsuit notes. Humphrey also had Trammell chastised for her testimony, according to the lawsuit, which also accuses Humphrey of retaliating against Fulks but provides no specifics.

Finks’ nine-page suit states that Finks believes Scott has no knowledge of how Humphrey has treated him. The mayor is not a defendant.

City Attorney Tom Carpenter released a statement Wednesday afternoon saying the city had been made aware of a lawsuit, but that neither the city nor Humphrey had been served with the suit and that neither had a comment on the complaint.

Humphrey has been Little Rock’s police chief for about 13 months. He was hired from Oklahoma in March 2019 after beating out 57 contenders, Finks and Fulks among them.

In the suit, Finks accused Humphrey of deliberately trying to make him look bad over the way police handled a protest by Blackshire supporters, which included arresting 10 of them. The resulting misdemeanor charges were dropped later.

Humphrey accused Finks of lying about the way the arrests were conducted but blocked an internal investigation that Finks requested to show he was telling the truth, the lawsuit states. Also among the accusations that Finks levels at Humphrey are a propensity to yell and slam doors.

Finks’ lawsuit further claims Humphrey’s feud with him has extended to encompass Finks’ brother, police Sgt. Duane Finks, and a friend, Sgt. Reginald Parks, both of whom have joined in the lawsuit. They were simultaneously demoted by the chief in text messages for no reason, the suit states.

The officers, represented by attorney Chris Burks and Degen Clow of the WH Law firm of North Little Rock, accuse Humphrey of committing criminal witness retaliation, violating the officers’ civil rights and the state’s Whistle Blower Act.

The police chief fired Starks for violating police procedure by stepping in front of a moving car when Starks shot and killed Blackshire after the car Blackshire was driving clipped Starks.