Assistant Police Chief Ivan Whitfield and Detective Marty Harrison are the two Pine Bluff Police Department officers who were placed on administrative leave with pay Thursday pending the conclusion of an internal investigation.
Whitfield is running for county judge and has worked for the PBPD for about three decades. He was promoted to assistant chief in January 2011 by Police Chief Brenda Davis-Jones. The position of assistant chief can be selected or removed at the discretion of the police chief. Harrison has worked for the department for more than 10 years, PBPD spokesman Lt. Bob Rawlinson estimated.
Rawlinson said that details would not be released about the circumstances that caused the two to be placed on administrative leave until the investigation was concluded.
“What I can say is that both of their investigations are separate investigations that don’t have anything to do with each other,” Rawlinson said.
The investigation is being conducted internally by the Office of Professional Standards.
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“After the investigation is over with, the police chief (Brenda Davis-Jones) will determine the actions to be taken, if any,” Rawlinson said.
Rawlinson said he did not have an estimate for how long the investigations might take.
“You would want them to go quickly, but at the same time, you have to be fair and consistent, and to do that, sometimes it takes a little longer,” Rawlinson said. “You have to take the time to gather all the facts, and give time for all the facts to surface. So in reality, the best length of time for an investigation is somewhere in the middle.
“Regardless of how long it takes, the investigation will be based on facts, not speculation or innuendo, and that’s the same guidelines that the chief will use to make her decision,” Rawlinson said.
Rawlinson said that a department wide equipment inventory that is ongoing is not related to the investigations. He said the department is checking service weapons and other equipment as part of standard procedures conducted annually.
Asked about reports by other media outlets that a PBPD-issued weapon was found in the possession of someone other than who it was issued to during a homicide investigation, Rawlinson said that information did not come from him and he could not confirm or deny the information at this stage in the investigation.