Little Rock's nine police captains have been reassigned and will oversee different divisions starting early next month, according to a departmentwide memo from Police Chief Kenton Buckner.
Buckner, who sent the memo earlier this month, said in an interview that the reassignment is an effort to strengthen the experience of his command staff by exposing members to different areas of the department.
"There's [a] benefit to having fresh eyes, fresh energy in a division," he said.
The reassignment, he said, is also a growth opportunity for captains who want to move up in rank or have goals of becoming police chiefs.
The Police Department's nine captains each oversee a division. Those divisions encompass a broad range of police services, from officers on the street to violent crime detectives to police recruiters.
The captains will begin in their new positions on Sept. 2, according to the memo. All three assistant chiefs will remain in their assignments and continue to oversee their respective bureaus.
Buckner said the reassignment does not have anything to do with a surge in violent crime in Little Rock this year. After he took office in 2014, Buckner said, he made clear that he would be reassigning captains every few years as a way of developing the top command staff.
"This is no surprise to anyone in this agency," he said, mentioning that top brass have been reassigned under his command in the past.
Capt. Heath Helton said he sees the reassignment as an opportunity to be exposed to different areas of responsibility and community concerns. Helton, who heads the department's Training Division, will begin overseeing the Northwest Patrol division, the department's most heavily populated patrol area, next month.
"It makes you a more well-rounded commander in the department," he said. He mentioned that the daily challenges he sees at the Training Division will be much different than the concerns he will face overseeing a patrol division.
It will take a little bit of time to get caught up with a new division, he said, but it's just a matter of meeting subordinates and getting to work.
The memo, which outlined the new assignments, said that Capt. Marcus Paxton will command the Training Division, Capt. Dustin Robertson will oversee the Headquarters Division and Capt. Tanya Washington will command the Records and Support Division. According to the memo, Capt. Max Spriggs will command the Special Operations Division.
In addition, Capt. Ty Tyrrell will command the Downtown Division and Capt. Mike Davis will head the Southwest Division while Helton was assigned to oversee the Northwest Division. Capt. Russell King will oversee the Major Crimes Division, and the Special Investigations Division will be headed by Capt. Ken Temple, according to the memo.
Metro on 08/22/2017