Public offers input on police; information will go to consultant

Views heard ahead of planned review

LITTLE ROCK — A committee working on an independent review of the Police Department took input from residents in a virtual meeting Thursday evening.

Mayor Frank Scott Jr. called for an independent review of the department in May and announced the committee members in June.

The scope of the review will cover the department’s practices and policies and determine whether best practices are being followed. The committee will provide facts to a firm the city will contract with to conduct the review.

The committee has nine members and is made up of attorneys, professors and a retired law enforcement officer. The chairman is Tamika Edwards, special adviser to the Central Arkansas Water chief executive on diversity, equity, inclusion and engagement.

Edwards said Scott felt it was important for the committee to get as much community feedback as possible during the process.

“It would be impossible for us to give the appropriate recommendations or the necessary recommendations without that,” she said. “We want to ensure you that the information that you give is well-taken and that it is useful.”

The review will cover four areas: personnel policies and procedures; training and professional standards; the handling of private and confidential information; and harassment and misconduct.

More than a dozen comments from residents, submitted by email, ranged from concerns about officers’ families and mental health to calls for more accountability and transparency.

One person wrote that officers should be allowed to live outside the city in order to protect themselves and their families from retaliation, but not have police cars that they drive home. Another suggested the committee look into body-based therapies for officers such as yoga.

Others suggested bail changes, new funding models for the department and incentives for officers who receive specialized training.

Two commenters asked the committee to look into the department’s relationships with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

Committee member Arkie Byrd thanked the community for the comments.

“It also tells me that people are thinking about these issues, they’re paying attention to what’s going on on the ground in communities,” Byrd said.

Committee member Furonda Brasfield said she wanted to make sure that a list of demands that protesters presented to the Little Rock Board of Directors on Tuesday — which include police-free schools, divesting funding from the department into communities and dissolving police unions — were a part of the review.

“I definitely want to make sure that the public knows that we’re including those … so the voices of the people that are working really hard to be heard on this issue will be heard,” Brasfield said.

The city has not selected a firm to conduct the review, Edwards said Thursday. Two firms responded to a national request for qualifications that the city issued in July: nonprofit research organization CNA, and consulting firm Hillard Heintze, according to documents obtained under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.

Both vendors said they have experience assessing police departments. Hillard Heintze said in its application that it was selected for a top-to-bottom review of the Louisville Police Department in Kentucky after the death of Breonna Taylor, a 26-yearold Black woman who was shot in her home by officers in March.

Edwards said Thursday’s broadcast was far from the only opportunity people will have to provide input.

Residents may make comments by phone at (501) 3714722 or by email at irc@littlerock.gov.

Scott called for an independent review of the department in May, during weeks of litigation and concerns aired by officials about Police Chief Keith Humphrey.

In a statement at the time, Scott said the department has systemic concerns that include nepotism, deescalation tactics and cultural competency, the internal affairs process, and the abuse of authority.

“It also tells me that people are thinking about these issues, they’re paying attention to what’s going on on the ground in communities.” — Arkie Byrd, committee member