PINE BLUFF — In an abrupt reversal Friday, Mayor Shirley Washington rescinded her termination of Police Chief Kelvin Sergeant just two days after she fired him.
The reasons she gave for the termination included an uptick in violence and a lack of response by the department to repeated incidents of street racing, vehicle caravans, and drivers congregating and doing burnouts in parking lots.
Sergeant, a 25-year veteran of the department, has been police chief since 2018, succeeding Council Member Ivan Whitfield upon the former chief’s retirement. Counting the time working as a correctional officer, Sergeant was nine months short of full retirement eligibility.
On Thursday, five council members — Whitfield, Steven Mays, Lloyd Holcomb Jr., Donald Hatchett, and Bruce Lockett — sponsored a resolution to encourage Washington to reinstate the police chief, and called for a special meeting Monday night to consider the resolution.
Council members Win Trafford, Joni Alexander and Glen Brown Jr. did not co-sponsor the resolution, but all three voiced their support of the mayor, regardless of her decision in the matter.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
All three said they were caught by surprise when they saw the mayor’s announcement Saturday morning.
Reached by phone Saturday, Whitfield applauded the mayor’s decision, but he said he had not talked to her about the matter.
“I’m proud she did it,” he said. “I didn’t see it coming but I’m glad it worked out that way.”
Friday at midnight, an email went out from Washington’s office with a short statement announcing Sergeant’s reinstatement. According to the statement, Washington met with Sergeant and made the decision to reinstate him after he had agreed “to enact systematic improvements in PBPD operations.”
Washington told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Saturday that within an hour of announcing Sergeant’s termination, she began receiving calls and messages from people, many of them angry over Sergeant’s firing.
“It was coming from every direction,” she said. “It was almost like an upheaval in the community, people saying we terminated Sergeant and he just has nine months until his retirement.”
Social media comments also ran heavily in favor of Sergeant’s reinstatement.
Whitfield said all of the attention focused on the matter likely played a role in Washington’s reconsideration.
“I’m sure she received calls, as did I and others, and I’m sure she received input from the community,” he said. “There was a lot of encouragement for her to get it back on the track and that’s what she did.”
Washington said, however, in spite of the pressure, that her decision ultimately came down to the matter of Sergeant’s retirement and her belief that keeping him on until he can retire was the right thing to do. The final decision, she said, was made after she met with Sergeant on Friday to discuss reinstatement. She said that she communicated to the chief that moving forward she expects a clear line of communication between the police chief and the mayor.
Sergeant confirmed that he had talked with Washington on Friday and that she had offered to reinstate him. He also confirmed that the mayor had voiced concern over racing and crowds congregating late at night, sometimes leading to confrontations requiring police intervention.
“Some of the same initiatives we had been employing to address those issues, those are things we will continue to do to try and stop those things from happening,” he said. “Particularly with the young people and the inappropriate driving they may do.”
He said he will employ more proactive measures to address drugs, gun crime, and violent crime as well.
In spite of her reversal, Washington did not rule out later changes in the department, and said that Sergeant’s tenure will be, by mutual agreement, a temporary arrangement.
“When he comes back we’re going to have a sit-down, a meeting of the minds,” she said. “He’s going to give me a letter indicating that he will be leaving after nine months that will go in his file, and that will give me a chance to begin a national search, and it will give him the opportunity to retire with dignity.”