Although prosecutors have cleared two Pine Bluff Police Department officers involved in separate shooting incidents in May, Police Chief Ivan Whitfield said Friday that an internal investigation into one of the incidents found that department policies were violated.
“I’m happy that the prosecutor cleared both officers, but I’ve got a problem understanding the actions and in-actions in one of those shooting events,” Whitfield said.
Earlier in the week, Prosecuting Attorney S. Kyle Hunter said he had looked at the investigation reports prepared by the Arkansas State Police and determined that the actions of the officers did not rise to the level of a criminal offense. Hunter had asked the state police to investigate the two incidents.
Anytime an officer fires their weapon, two separate investigations are conducted — the first to determine if the shooting was justified under state law, the second to determine if the officer or officers involved followed department policies and procedures.
The incident Whitfield expressed concern about occurred on May 20 when officers responded to a reported burglary in progress at 2015 Reed Street; during that incident, a shot was fired by an officer. Whitfield said both the officer involved in the shooting and a second officer who was on the scene will face disciplinary action as a result of the policy violations, which he declined to discuss. They will have five days to appeal the discipline to a civilian review board, which replaced the Civil Service Commission when it was disbanded by the Pine Bluff City Council.
Because both officers have the right to appeal, their names were not released. A suspect in the burglary has not been arrested. Hunter said that when one is identified, that person will face charges of residential burglary and theft of property.
In the second incident, Officer Chrisanthia Kendrick fired her weapon at Vanna Johnson, 32, after Johnson pointed a gun at Kendrick, who had responded to a reported burglary at an apartment at 2920 S. Fir St. on May 24. The bullet fired by Kendrick hit Johnson in the left leg. Johnson is facing felony charges of aggravated residential burglary and two counts of aggravated assault in that incident.