A gift of free tickets, travel and hotel expenses for uniformed North Little Rock police officers to attend a Dallas Cowboys football game has prompted a citizen's complaint to the Arkansas Ethics Commission.
Cowboys owner and General Manager Jerry Jones, who grew up in North Little Rock, made the offer last month for officers and their families to attend any of the team's remaining five home games at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The first available game was Sunday night.
More than 100 of the department's 179 uniformed officers are expected to attend one of the games.
Russ Racop of Little Rock, a local blogger who writes about topics including "bad government," filed the ethics complaint Wednesday. The complaint names Mayor Joe Smith; the eight North Little Rock aldermen; Michael Gibbons, president of the North Little Rock Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 5; and Jones.
The Ethics Commission cannot comment on its investigations, Director Graham Sloan said Thursday.
The complaint alleges that the free Cowboys tickets and other expenses violate Arkansas Code Annotated 21-8-801, which reads, "No public servant shall receive a gift for the performance of the duties and responsibilities of his or her office or position." Gifts valued at more than $100 are "prohibited under this rule."
The North Little City Council approved a resolution Oct. 24 thanking Jones, accepting the value of the offer and then passing it along to the city's police officers as a city benefit "without regard to actual receipt by the city."
The resolution was approved to comply with state ethics laws, including the law cited in the complaint, City Attorney Jason Carter said Thursday.
"My advice was to present it to the City Council to make sure the offer was transparent and accountable and, in my opinion, within the law," Carter said of Jones' offer. "It's better to be transparent and have the discussion in front of the public. That's the best policy of government."
Gibbons has said Jones' offer was meant to recognize police officers from his hometown for their community interaction and their service to the city. Specifically, Jones wanted to recognize North Little Rock's Police Athletic League, which allows community children to participate in sports leagues and other activities for free.
Gibbons said in a statement he read Thursday that he wanted to "once again express our appreciation to Jerry Jones" but that the Fraternal Order of Police's concerns weren't about the complaint. A fellow officer was severely injured Tuesday while trying to stop the theft of a patrol car. The officer, whose name hasn't been released, was dragged by the vehicle 40 to 50 yards and thrown into a fence when the car crashed into a house.
"Right now, we are solely focused on one of our members who was critically injured [Tuesday] and is in the hospital," Gibbons said. "I want to thank the community and especially the citizens of North Little Rock for their continued support."
The Dallas Cowboys organization released a prepared statement Thursday when asked about the ethics complaint.
"Mr. Jones is very proud of the department's commitment to fostering relationships with children in the community and their many programs that are designed to have great communication between the NLRPD and the citizens they serve," the statement from a Cowboys' spokesman said. "He is grateful for how they have set a wonderful example for other departments across the country and wanted to express his appreciation for the very important role that they perform in his hometown."
Metro on 11/04/2016