Little Rock police have recorded a drop in homicides and shootings over the past month and a half, a respite in an otherwise bloody year for Arkansas' capital city.
The decrease in killings and nonfatal shootings coincides with an increase in Little Rock police patrols, but department officials stop short of saying that the decrease is solely because of those patrols.
"Is it true that our visibility and increased officer presence is a contributing factor? Yes. Is it the contributing factor? I don't think that anyone can say that," said Little Rock Police Chief Kenton Buckner. "Because if [violent crime] were to go up tomorrow, I wouldn't be able to tell you why."
In mid-August, the Little Rock Police Department announced that officers would work extra hours on patrol in high-crime areas and required that 45 officers per day work mandatory overtime. The city estimated the overtime expense at almost $10,000 per day, according to a city memo.
"I do not have a blank check, but I can't put a dollar figure on safety," Buckner said when asked about the financial cost and the prospect of continuing the mandatory overtime. "So somewhere in the middle we try to get work done."
At the request of Little Rock police, Arkansas State Police also have increased patrols on state highways in the city.
Arkansas State Police increased patrols on Aug. 14, and Little Rock police began working its extra patrols on Aug. 18.
In the 40 days from Aug. 18 to Tuesday, Little Rock had two homicides and 11 nonfatal shootings, according to department data. From July 9 to Aug. 17 -- the 40 days before the additional patrols -- Little Rock recorded 13 homicides and 22 nonfatal shootings, data show.
As of Saturday evening, Little Rock police had not reported a homicide since Aug. 20, when a mother found her two children and their father dead in a west Little Rock home. Police described that case as a "murder-suicide," saying the father killed the children and then took his own life.
Department data show that rape and robbery cases also were down in the 40 days after the increased patrols, compared with the 40-day period before Aug. 18.
As of midday Saturday, six people had been wounded by gunfire in September, according to Little Rock police spokesman Lt. Steve McClanahan. He said that figure does not include accidental shootings.
Department data show that there were 19 nonfatal shootings in August and 37 nonfatal shooting victims in July. The July figure includes 25 people injured at a downtown nightclub on July 1, a shooting that received national attention.
On average, there were 16.5 nonfatal shootings per month from January through June, according to police data.
Even with the recent letup in shootings and homicides, Little Rock has seen an increase in violent crime in 2017.
With three months left in the year, Little Rock has already surpassed last year's total number of nonfatal shootings. In 2016, 150 people were wounded by gunfire in the city. As of midday Saturday, this year's total was already 161 people, according to police.
Little Rock police recorded 118 nonfatal shootings in 2015 and 98 in 2014.
As for homicides this year, the city had recorded 45 as of midday Saturday, as compared with 28 by this time last year. In 1993, when the city was roiled by gang violence, police logged a record 76 homicides.
For this year, Little Rock police did not log a homicide in June but recorded 10 in July. Department records show that there have been only three other months since 1990 when police logged 10 or more homicides in the city.
Officials have taken several steps over the past year to curb Little Rock's violence. The Police Department has created a permanent unit that's focused on quelling violent crime. And in the aftermath of the nightclub shooting, Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced the creation of a joint task force involving federal, state and local authorities. Federal officials have said the FBI-led task force is focused on disrupting gangs and violent crime in Little Rock.
Arkansas State Police reported last week that while assisting Little Rock police, troopers logged 267 arrests or citations and issued 102 warnings from mid-August to Sept. 23.
Trooper Liz Chapman, a state police spokesman, said state troopers do not answer police calls within the city, but help patrol streets when they have the resources to do so.
Buckner said the state police patrols have been a big help. "I think that all of the initiatives that we have put in play are working in unison, specifically our external partner that we've asked to help us," he said.
The Police Department has dozens of vacancies in its ranks. Buckner said the mandatory overtime would not be needed if the department was fully staffed. Targeted patrols would still be necessary, he said, but the department would be able to handle them using personnel on regular shifts rather than on overtime.
The department had 51 officer vacancies as of Sept. 13, data show. The department now has 26 recruits to help fill those spots, but the recruits have not yet graduated from the training academy and are not on patrols. Of the remaining vacant positions, most are in the department's three patrol divisions.
The department's mandatory overtime patrols have caused fatigue within patrol divisions, according to John Gilchrist, president of the Little Rock Fraternal Order of Police.
"It's definitely taking a toll, without question," he said last week.
In addition to the overtime, he said, there are other requirements of the job, such as court appearances and training. Many officers also work off-duty jobs, he mentioned.
Gilchrist said many patrol officers believe that the decrease in crime is because school is back in session and not solely because of the additional patrols. He said department administrators have told him that they tentatively plan to continue the mandatory overtime through the end of the year.
Metro on 10/01/2017