LR mayor quiet on police chief finalists

Scott planned to find one before vote

Six months into the search for a permanent police chief, Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr.’s administration has released no information on finalists or candidates who have sat for interviews.

A recent Arkansas Freedom of Information Act request for the latest materials on finalists yielded no records from the city’s Human Resources Department, according to a paralegal.

Former Police Chief Keith Humphrey resigned effective May 20 after leading the department for approximately three years during Scott’s first term.

The same month, Scott said he planned to appoint a new police chief prior to the November election, but the date came and went without an announcement.

In the mayoral contest Nov. 8, Little Rock voters elected Scott to a second term. The incumbent mayor’s main opponent was retired car dealer Steve Landers Sr., who was backed by the Little Rock Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge No. 17.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette asked the city of Little Rock to provide records pertaining to finalists or interviewees for the permanent police-chief job

over a timeframe of September through November.

Christina DePriest, a paralegal in the Little Rock city attorney’s office, wrote in an email, “Per HR, there are not any documents responsive to your request. This FOIA request is being closed.”

Applicants for the job include Assistant Chief Heath Helton and Sgt. Derrick Threadgill of Little Rock, former Memphis police lieutenant Vonyale Montgomery and New Haven, Mo., Police Chief Christopher Hammann.

In 2019, Scott hired Humphrey, then the police chief of Norman, Okla., to replace former Little Rock police chief Kenton Buckner. Humphrey was one of four finalists at the time. Two of them were internal candidates who have since left the department.

In light of Humphrey’s retirement, the role of interim police chief was initially handed off to then-Assistant Chief Crystal Young-Haskins. However, in June, the department announced Young-Haskins would exit, too. At the time, Scott said Assistant Chief Wayne Bewley would serve as interim chief as the search for a permanent chief continued.

“As you know, the search process is ongoing and the Mayor will make the announcement of a new chief at the appropriate time, when that process is concluded,” Scott’s spokesman Aaron Sadler wrote in an email recently when asked about the status of interviewees or finalists.