A man convicted of misdemeanor criminal offenses was sworn in as Jacksonville police chief Friday after city officials had expressed concern over his past.
Geoffrey Herweg, 53, replaces Kenny Boyd as head of the Police Department. Boyd spent the final two years of his 29-year career with the department as chief. He retired April 1.
Mayor Gary Fletcher hired Herweg this month after a national search that yielded 31 candidates. Herweg had been deputy chief of the Lovington, N.M., Police Department, an agency of 28 sworn officers. He now leads a department of 80 officers.
City aldermen and the Jacksonville Fraternal Order of Police have said Herweg’s history is troubling.
Herweg pleaded guilty in 2002 to charges of filing a false police report and failure to report an accident in Williamson County, Texas, according to court records. An affidavit says Herweg, then employed by the Taylor, Texas, Police Department, crashed a car into a house and fled the scene on Christmas Eve in 2000.
Herweg told investigators his car had been stolen, according to the affidavit. He was arrested after investigators determined that he’d “wrecked and abandoned the vehicle” and knowingly lied about it.
Herweg was sentenced to three days in jail, paid a $2,000 fine and permanently surrendered his state law enforcement certification as part of his guilty plea, court filings show.
Herweg spoke briefly Friday after being sworn in as Jacksonville police chief. He thanked Fletcher and others for their support and said he planned to continue “the vision, the mission and the goals” of the department.
Herweg did not talk about his past. He said he would not speak to reporters until he had met with Police Department employees.
“I’m not going down a negative road,” Herweg said. “Just not today.”
Fletcher has defended his decision to hire Herweg. He has praised Herweg’s law enforcement credentials and said Herweg was open about his legal troubles in Texas.
Fletcher spoke favorably of Herweg again at Friday’s ceremony.
“Out of all the interviews,” Fletcher said, “one really started stirring in my heart. That was Geoff … I see a person that has vision, has a direction, has energy. I see a strong person.”
Herweg and Chief Deputy Kenneth Scott of the Orleans Parish, La., sheriff’s office were the finalists for the job. Both have more than 20 years of experience in law enforcement.
Herweg holds a master’s degree in business administration and has more than 10 years of military and private security experience. Scott does not hold a college degree and does not list any military experience on his application for the Jacksonville job.
Applications for the job were released to the Arkansas-Democrat Gazette under the state Freedom of Information Act.
Applicants included two police officers-turned-criminal justice professors; an Air Force veteran working at a Wal-Mart distribution center; a former lawman who manages a Radio Shack; an Arkansas Department of Human Services caseworker, and a former U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent who ran for the Senate in Maine.
The city received applications from 14 states. Ten came from Arkansas. Two applicants were Jacksonville Police Department employees.
A review of the candidates found several, including Herweg, whose conduct had been called into question.
One applicant, a former sheriff in Ohio, quit his job this year and admitted to having a gambling problem after the FBI raided his department, according to reports. Several people, including a former city councilman and a convicted drug dealer, have filed suit against him on claims that he owes them tens of thousands of dollars.
Another applicant, a former police chief in Alaska, reportedly resigned last year as he was being investigated on allegations of using his position to promote his private security business.
A former police chief in Georgia who applied for the job resigned from his position in 2012 under accusations that he’d misused city funds and equipment, according to reports.
Another candidate for the job, a sheriff’s office major in Georgia, reportedly had her jailer certification revoked last year after a department recruit died in a training session she supervised.
Herweg’s misdemeanor convictions do not disqualify him from being a certified law enforcement officer in Arkansas.
Jacksonville Fire Department Chief Alan Laughy, Human Resources Director Jill Ross, Administration Director Jim Durham and Boyd, the retired police chief, were among those who supported the decision to hire Herweg, according to Fletcher.
Alderman Tara Smith, who has been the most outspoken critic of the hire, said she believes the city can do better. She said Friday that she’s working to overturn Fletcher’s selection.
Aldermen can veto the hire through a special vote. At least seven of the 10 aldermen would need to vote against the hire.
Reports show that Herweg applied for police chief positions in Portland, Tenn., and Columbus, Miss., before landing the job in Jacksonville.
The Jacksonville Fraternal Order of Police released a statement on the hiring before Herweg was sworn in Friday.
“Our FOP has been made aware of the situation regarding Chief Herweg and we have concerns about the circumstances regarding the situation,” the statement says.