Police Chief Brenda Davis-Jones was questioned about a change in PBPD uniform policy without council approval and about spending $747 on an iPhone and accessories by Alderman Thelma Walker at Monday’s City Council meeting.
Davis-Jones said that she is trying to bring the Pine Bluff Police Department in line with national standards and discovered the officers had never undergone a formal uniform inspection. She has scheduled an inspection, she said, but most of the officers had never purchased a hat, which is part of their uniform requirement, because they are only worn for events like funerals and inspections.
Before she required the officers to purchase hats out of their uniform allowance, Davis-Jones said, she changed the hat requirement for the officers to a cheaper hat that costs $70, rather than the $100 hat currently listed under department policy. Supervisors will continue to wear the more expensive hat.
Davis-Jones said she was trying to be economical with the decision. Davis-Jones said she did not realize that the change would require council approval after her discussions of the matter with Lt. Bob Rawlinson.
“I am not trying to blame it on anyone but myself,” Davis-Jones said, adding that although the hats have already been ordered, she is prepared to bring the item before the council for approval at the next council meeting.
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“I’m not here to deceive anyone, I’m not here to take anything from anybody,” Davis-Jones said. “I’m here to run a police department.”
Walker asked if Rawlinson has since been removed from the position of day shift detective lieutenant. Davis-Jones said yes, and when asked why by Walker, Davis-Jones said that the division Deputy Chief Kelvin Sergeant requested the change. Rawlinson was also removed as department spokesman on April 7, five days after Walker initially questioned Davis-Jones about the hats at the April 2 council meeting and Davis-Jones said that Rawlinson had advised her that the policy is not specific as to what kind of hat is required, just that the officers have to have a hat.
Mayor Carl A. Redus Jr. at that point asked Walker and Davis-Jones to stop discussing a personnel matter in public.
Walker also asked Davis-Jones about $747 she spent on an iPhone 4, car charger, pink stereo plug cable and $100 in other itmes that were illegible on a photocopy of the RadioShack receipt she submitted to the city. Walker asked Redus if he had approved the expense.
“Yes, I sure did. I absolutely did,” Redus said, adding that Davis-Jones needed the iPhone to be able to tie in with the video camera system the department has deployed across the city.
“I don’t know where you’re going with this and why you’re playing politics with the public’s time,” Redus said.
Walker has announced she will run for mayor in November 2012. Redus has not yet formally announced if he intends to seek re-election.
Alderman Wayne Easterly asked why Davis-Jones did not get a cheaper iPhone. Redus and the PBPD employee who actually made the purchase said that the phone was not purchased as part of a contract renewal or other phone plan that can make the phone cheaper. On the receipt, the cost for the 8GB-capacity phone is listed as $550.
Walker also questioned Davis-Jones about changes she recently made to the department vacation policy and asked why she did not bring that before the council. Davis-Jones said it was not a policy change, but that she had simply asked her officers to try to take the bulk of their vacation time before mid-November to prevent officers from all trying to take one, two or three weeks of vacation during the Christmas holiday, which she said is one of the busiest crime seasons of the year.
Redus said Davis-Jones runs the day-to-day operations of the department and simple directives like that do not require council approval.
Alderman Bill Brumett also followed up with Redus on questions he has asked about accusations about Davis-Jones made by her assistant chief in February. Assistant Chief Ivan Whitfield alleged that Davis-Jones fired him in retaliation for his refusal to identify a source who had provided him with information that reflected poorly on the chief’s alleged boyfriend. Whitfield further alleged that Davis-Jones used her power to take care of a situation in which the boyfriend was drinking, was driving her vehicle on a suspended license and was about to be arrested.
Redus has said that there was no internal affairs investigation into the allegations, but that they were determined to be false. Davis-Jones has denied the allegations.
Brumett has asked Redus verbally and in writing for Davis-Jones or Redus to respond point-by-point to Whitfield’s accusations. Redus and City Attorney Althea Hadden-Scott recently declined to respond to many of those questions in a Freedom of Information Act Request. Brumett asked the same questions to Redus again, phrasing them as an alderman trying to provide answers to the public.
Redus on Monday told Brumett he would not be commenting further on the matter because of legal advice from the Municipal League and the City Attorney’s Office that many of the items should not be commented on because they are part of a State Police investigation into the circumstances surrounding Whitfield’s firing.
“There’s an easy answer [to whether the allegations against the chief are true]: yes or no,” Brumett said. “I’m not going to give up on this.”
“I don’t think you should waste this city’s time,” Redus said, later adding that he thought it was a waste of the public’s time as well.
“The citizens want to know the answers to those questions,” Brumett said.