Veteran Little Rock officer is new spokesman

25-year detective seeks lighter side

Officer Steve Moore, a 32-year veteran of the Little Rock Police Department, is moving from the department’s detective division to its public information office.
Officer Steve Moore, a 32-year veteran of the Little Rock Police Department, is moving from the department’s detective division to its public information office.

A 32-year veteran of the Little Rock Police Department is the agency's newest spokesman.

Officer Steve Moore, who spent most of his law enforcement career as a homicide detective, has joined Lt. Steve McClanahan as one of the public faces of the department.

Moore replaces officer Richard Hilgeman, who had been a department spokesman since June 2015. Hilgeman recently transferred to the department's major crimes division.

McClanahan said Moore's knowledge of police operations, investigative experience and familiarity with the city will help the department grow its relationship with the public and the press.

"I think that's a benefit to not only us as a department, but to the community as well," McClanahan said. "Because Steve is schooled in this. He has the context in homicide. He knows the process of what to release. He knows the medical examiner. He knows the proper terminology."

Moore, a Lonoke native, joined the department in 1984 as part of its now-defunct cadet program. His uncle, who was a lieutenant in the training division at the time, recommended that he look into police work after high school.

"I wasn't interested in college and I didn't really have a direction," Moore said. "So my uncle said, 'Hey, why don't you try this cadet program? See how that goes. If you don't like it, you can go do something else.' But I liked it."

Moore described the work in his cadet years as menial -- writing parking tickets, fetching lunch for veteran officers and, occasionally, washing the chief's car. But he stuck around and was promoted to patrolman after three years.

He became a detective in 1991 and was involved in numerous headline-making cases.

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In 1993, he investigated the death of Jeannie Lee Allen, 66, who was found to have been poisoned with arsenic by her younger sister, Georgia Louise Weaver.

Moore investigated the execution-style killings of Mary Hussian's three children in her Little Rock home in 1995. Riley "Dobi" Noel was convicted in the case and executed by lethal injection.

In 2004, Moore investigated the mysterious death of Garrick Wales, a 48-year-old Scotsman, in Little Rock. Wales was later found to have been fatally bitten by a venomous snake that he'd bought and shipped to the city.

Moore said in an interview that such cases "take a toll" over the years.

"Most of my time here has been dealing with death and the aftermath, families and stuff," he said. "I'm hoping in public affairs it'll be a little bit on the lighter side of law enforcement."

Moore's career with Little Rock police also includes a stint as liaison to the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force. He held that position from 2007 to 2013.

"With the Capitol and everything here, I spent a lot of time chasing white powder-letters that people would send in," Moore said.

Moore joins a public affairs office that has expanded the department's presence online in recent years. The department posts safety alerts, suspect flyers, news releases and other information several times a day on platforms including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Moore said he's learning to use that technology.

"It'll be an adjustment, but I'm looking forward to it," he said.

Metro on 03/13/2017

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