Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola announced Friday the creation of a crime task force that will recommend policies and practices to deter crime and improve public safety.
The idea is one Stodola first mentioned a year ago in his March 2014 State of the City address, during which he said he would convene a task force to address the city's high rate of black-on-black violence.
Eight months later in November, Stodola said he had expanded that idea into three separate groups.
The first, called the Juvenile Crime Enforcement Coalition, began meeting in November with the goal of targeting children at risk of entering lives of crime or other negative behaviors at early ages. The initiative will specifically focus on young boys and men of color at the Hamilton Learning Academy. A second group that isn't completely fleshed out will work hand in hand with that coalition to provide mentoring.
The third group is the Capital City Crime Prevention Task Force, the full membership of which was announced Friday. Stodola appointed 17 people to the committee, of which he is also a member. His appointees include elected officials, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, judges, community activists and university professors.
The task force's objective will be to review policies, laws and best practices related to crime prevention and make recommendations for Little Rock. It will begin meeting monthly by early April.
"There is no one magic solution," Stodola said in a news release. "The criminal justice system is complex, and it is going to take smart, committed minds and the energy of our entire community to make our city safer."
The committee will tackle a number of crime-related issues, including electronic monitoring of parolees, sentencing alternatives, employment opportunities upon release from incarceration, pretrial procedures, policing and more.
When campaigning for the Ward 3 seat on the Little Rock Board of Directors, Kathy Webb said she had urged the mayor to develop a crime committee. Webb, who was elected, said public safety is her No. 1 concern. She has been appointed to the task force.
Other notable members include Pulaski County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Jegley, state Rep. Clarke Tucker, Little Rock District Judge Alice Lightle, Police Chief Kenton Buckner, Pulaski County circuit judges Mary Ann McGowan and Leon Johnson, state Sen. David Sanders, and Arkansas Department of Community Correction Director Sheila Sharp.
The remaining task force members are: Bob Birch, the public safety chairman of Fifty for the Future; Dawne Vandiver with the Arkansas Parole Board; professors Mary Parker and Stacy Moak with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock's department of criminal justice; Randy Morgan with the Pulaski Regional Detention Facility; attorneys Juan Carlos Hernandez and Ron Davis; and Kevin Crass, the public safety chairman of the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Metro on 03/14/2015