Jerry Jones provides Cowboys tickets, pays for travel to salute work of North Little Rock police

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones speaks at the dedication of the Jones Family Success Center on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2015, in Fayetteville.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones speaks at the dedication of the Jones Family Success Center on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2015, in Fayetteville.

When the Dallas Cowboys play host Sunday night to the Philadelphia Eagles, on hand will be North Little Rock police officers and their families as guests of Cowboys owner and General Manager Jerry Jones for the game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Jones made the offer recently of game tickets for any of the team's five remaining home games, including travel and hotels costs, for North Little Rock's uniformed police officers and their families.

The gesture is a way of recognizing the North Little Rock police officers for their community work and as a thanks for their service to the city, said Michael Gibbons, president of the North Little Rock Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 5.

Just more than 100 of the department's 179 uniformed officers plan to attend one of the remaining games with family members, a city spokesman said.

"Every single officer has asked me how we could repay Mr. Jones for such a great gift," Gibbons said in a city news release about the offer. "My response: 'Keep doing what you do for the citizens of North Little Rock.' That is all he asks for."

City Attorney Jason Carter said that because of state ethics laws regarding gifts valued at more than $100, the North Little Rock City Council had to approve a resolution for the city to accept the value of the offer and then be able to pass the offer along to its police officers as a city benefit. No estimate of the cost has been available. The council approved the resolution Monday night.

Mayor Joe Smith said he has visited with Jones previously and knows that Jones is genuinely proud of North Little Rock. Jones grew up in the city, graduated from North Little Rock High School and was co-captain on the Arkansas Razorbacks' 1964 national championship football team.

"We've got a reputation, and a really good reputation," Smith said of the city's Police Department. "He couldn't say enough about his hometown. He loves his hometown.

"He put this package together to say thank you to our officers and their wives," Smith said. "In order for it to be accepted, we had to do this legislation."

Gibbons said he also visited with Jones recently and that Jones had followed law enforcement trends during a time when departments nationally are "under immense scrutiny" because of several highly publicized shootings by police officers and the shooting deaths of police officers in past months across the nation.

Jones is aware, Gibbons said, of the recognition the North Little Rock Police Department and its officers have received for their involvement in the community. For example, the Police Athletic League, organized and directed by police officers on their own time, helps children participate in athletic programs and other activities free of charge.

"The majority of the officers and citizens of North Little Rock that assist in the PAL Program volunteer countless hours each day to make sure that each kid who signs up to play a sport feels like he or she is welcome and belongs," Gibbons said in a statement to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. "Because, just like Mr. Jones, the North Little Rock Fraternal Order of Police believes that the world is a better place when we can all come together and give more than we take."

Officers are "getting out of their patrol cars and playing basketball with kids in the streets, tossing footballs in front yards" and raising money for those in need, Gibbons said as other examples of the community interaction by North Little Rock officers.

The Dallas Cowboys organization didn't respond to a request for comment, but the North Little Rock Communications Department issued a statement Wednesday from Jones.

"The North Little Rock Police Department is committed to helping children through its many programs and has been an example for departments across the country," Jones said. "As a young boy growing up in North Little Rock, police officers were great role models to me. It's a privilege to honor their work in continuing to focus on children in the community."

Jones "recognized that each of these North Little Rock Police Department officers is making a difference in the lives of everyone they touch," Gibbons said.

Metro on 10/27/2016

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