The Pine Bluff City Council will consider a proposal Tuesday that would request the mayor to look into hiring a consultant to evaluate the police department’s management practices and policies.
The council meets at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in council chambers at the civic complex. City offices are closed Monday for the Presidents Day holiday.
Alderman Thelma Walker, who is sponsoring the proposal, said Thursday that she and other members of the city council are concerned about how some recent disciplinary actions have been handled by the department.
“I am concerned, and other members are as well, about the uniformity of [the discipline that is imposed], the timely manner and other things,” Walker said. “We just feel like the best thing for the department might be for someone from outside the department to come in and assess it.”
Walker said that in speaking to police officers, she has heard from them that they preferred the more uniformity in treatment they felt they received under previous police chiefs.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“They said that when you did something, you knew what punishment you were going to get,” Walker said. “You were going to get the same thing that the person before you got.”
A message left on Police Chief Brenda Davis-Jones’ city cell phone Thursday evening was not returned by press time.
The proposed resolution states in conclusion that Mayor Carl A. Redus Jr. should: “investigate the availability and likely costs associated with retaining professional consultants for the purpose of evaluating the management practices and policies and overall administration of the police department. The mayor should make a report to the council within 30 days of his findings.”
Disciplinary actions so far in 2012 that have been made public:
• A 30-day suspension given to Officer Andrea Cherry for insubordination, being late for court and other policy violations. Cherry appealed the decision, but it was upheld by the city Review Committee;
• An undisclosed disciplinary action for Detective Marty Harrison;
• And the firing of Assistant Police Chief Ivan Whitfield for not having control of his service weapon, according to Whitfield’s description of the situation. Police officials have not commented on what led to the firing. The decision was overturned and Whitfield was reinstated Monday by the Pine Bluff City Council.