LITTLE ROCK, Ark.- A task force formed in the wake of protests following the death of George Floyd to address policing issues in Arkansas is set to give its final report Thursday.
Governor Asa Hutchinson and members of the Task Force to Advance the State of Law Enforcement in Arkansas presented the final report with recommended action items.
Governor Hutchinson says there are specific action items that can be taken on in the next legislative session in January.
“I created the law-enforcement task force in the midst of the civil unrest and violence that arose across the country after the death of George Floyd,” Governor Hutchinson said. “That national crisis led us to assess the state of law enforcement in Arkansas. We want to ensure that we are providing our agencies with the equipment, guidance and training, support, and compensation, that will allow them to perform their jobs at the highest level. The law-enforcement officers, elected officials, and community activists on the task force surveyed a broad base of citizens and produced a report that is filled with substantive proposals.”
The proposals include 27 recommendation to increase accountability, training and raise pay.
One recommendation was to increase the ratio of full-time to part-time officers. There is proposed legislation to limit two part-time officers to every full-time officer. Hutchinson said part-time and auxiliary officers are not required to go through the police academy.
A second recommendation is to enhance accountability for excessive force, dishonesty and deceit by having a mandatory report. The governor said as of now, police departments are not required to make a report for excessive force, dishonesty and deceit.
Another recommendation is to require every agency to have a full-time police chief. According to Governor Hutchinson, 20 departments do not have a full-time police chief.
There is a recommendation to move the retirement system from 30 years to 25 years of service. Hutchinson said it will take the state a while to get there, but the plan is to start with legislation that changes state police’s retirement system from 30 years to 28 years.
Another recommendation is to double the amount of bias training from two hours to four hours.
The task force also recommended developing programs with faith and community leaders to bring the police in touch with the community.
There was also a recommendation from the task force to have more consistent awareness of the crisis stabilization unit.
Another recommendation is to support bilingual information sessions on what to do if you are pulled over and a person’s rights.
There was also a request from the recommendation for increased use of body cameras.
Fred Weatherspoon, deputy director of the Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy, was the chair.
Other members of the task force are:
- Secretary Jami Cook, Department of Public Safety (DPS)
- Sheriff Marty Boyd, Craighead County Sheriff’s Office
- Tim Campbell, Citizen Advocate, Little Rock
- KenDrell Collins, Assistant Federal Public Defender
- Emma Davis, Citizen Advocate, Van Buren
- Lt. Col. Shawn Garner, Arkansas State Police
- Gina Gomez, El Centrano Hispano
- Sgt. Allen Hamby, Little Rock Police Department
- Scott Hamilton, Urban League
- Sheriff Tim Helder, Washington County Sheriff’s Office
- Layla Holloway, Citizen Advocate, Van Buren
- Mike Knoedl, Retired Law Enforcement Officer
- Daniel Martinez, Business Owner, De Queen
- Bob McMahan, Arkansas Officer of Prosecutor Coordinator
- Chief Mike Reynolds, Fayetteville Police Department
- Mayor James Sanders, Blytheville
- Geovanny Sarmiento, Rogers Chamber of Commerce
- Randy Shores, Arkansas Department of Corrections
- Steve Shults, Black River Law Enforcement Training Academy
- Jimmy Warren, Citizen Advocate, Conway
- Mayor Shirley Washington, Pine Bluff
- Chief Percy Wilburn, Lake Village Police Department
- Sgt. Coty Williams, Arkansas State Police
- Tomekia Williamson, Arkansas Community Corrections
You can watch full news conference above.