"I hope people understand this ain't me gettin' up on some high horse."
--Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott by phone Tuesday
Little Rock's new young mayor, the first popularly elected African American leader of the city, had previously rejected a police-chief recommendation that he accept a two-person security detail from the city police force.
Frank Scott did not make political history at age 35 by being politically lead-footed.
He knew instinctively that such an arrangement--a stark break with long practice for a nondescript office--would strike some as imperious and contradictory to his assertion of the city's dire need for more police officers to fight crime.
When the acting police chief advised him in January that he should accept police protection because of credible concerns for his safety dating from his high-profile campaign, Scott instantly understood the implications. He declined.
Right out of the gate was not the time, not that there would ever be a good time in terms of political imagery.
Pre-Scott, the mayor's office had never been attended by such energy or high profile. Scott and two other strong mayoral candidates, Baker Kurrus and Warwick Sabin, had rather audaciously redefined it.
Once in the office, Scott had taken authority from the city manager. He has talked of remaking the city board as one of full ward representation. He has floated a city-run school district. He has advisory committees and a four-year playbook. He talks of restoring city "swagger."
About 100 days into Scott's term, his newly hired police chief, Keith Humphrey, gave him the same advice--that there were credible concerns and that he needed security.
This time Scott decided grudgingly to accept. The arrangement began unannounced Friday when a two-officer plain-clothed team picked him up in an unmarked car in the morning and stayed with him until delivering him home that evening.
By midday Monday, the new circumstance had been leaked to a local television station--most assuredly not by someone well-intended toward the mayor.
These reports of threatening comments toward Scott began in the campaign about the time he raised civil rights issues. That came after national publicity about the police department's abusive, door-exploding, no-knock warrant practice toward sometimes-innocent drug suspects based on tips from sometimes-unreliable sources.
The practice was decried by all major mayoral candidates. But Scott was the one going so far as to send a letter to the federal Justice Department--not yet responded to--asking for a federal investigation of possible violations of civil rights.
Scott also was the only serious contender who happened to be black.
If you don't believe race is at the root of most issues in Little Rock, then either you're not paying attention or you're in denial or you are the very problem.
There are still creepy white people in these parts who harbor resentment that black people are taking over and getting political protection against the police for their lawlessness.
There are black people who know the opposite to be true.
What we have is a new kind of mayor--in more ways than pigmentation--and, thus, a regrettably appropriate new security policy.
The need dates to factors long preceding the recent police shooting death of a black man, Bradley Blackshire.
But there are persistent themes.
I've seen criticism of Scott on social media over the last few days from white people who say he has not been sufficiently supportive of the police in that incident.
After Prosecuting Attorney Larry Jegley announced he was declining to pursue charges against the policeman in the Blackshire death, Scott put out a statement emphasizing concern for the victim's family and calling for community calm.
Scott said in that prepared statement: "Whether or not you agree with Prosecuting Attorney Jegley's decision, the fact remains there is a Little Rock mother grieving the loss of her son. I have spoken with Mr. Blackshire's mother, prayed with her this afternoon, and will continue to pray for her peace, strength and comfort during this time of sorrow. I understand the range of emotions that today's decision has stirred, for I, too, share in your pain and frustration. However, I personally ask that the citizens of Little Rock remain peaceful."
Some have wondered why the mayor would react to a prosecutor's clearing of his police officer with exclusive empathy for the family of the victim.
I'll tell you why: The police officer's day had been made already--by the prosecuting attorney.
Scott thought it more important--for the city, for humanity--that he show sensitivity to the grieving family.
I don't believe that Scott thought that because he's black. I think he thought it because he's a concerned, unity-seeking mayor.
I don't think he insulted the police department by that emphasis. I think he believed, in that circumstance, that outspoken concern for grieving citizens was more important than standard allegiance to the system.
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John Brummett, whose column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, is a member of the Arkansas Writers' Hall of Fame. Email him at jbrummett@arkansasonline.com. Read his @johnbrummett Twitter feed.
Editorial on 04/25/2019