The Jacksonville NAACP administration said Wednesday that two city police officers' actions were "unavoidable and reasonable" when they shot and killed a man who drove toward them in a stolen vehicle in June.
A day after the prosecuting attorney's office cleared the officers of any criminal wrongdoing, Jacksonville NAACP President Barry Jefferson said that although the officers' actions were justified, the incident highlights the need for changes at the Jacksonville Police Department.
City officials, however, said two of the three recommended changes are already in place.
On June 13, Jacksonville police officers were dispatched at 11:57 p.m. to a break-in at Crain Ford at 1800 School Drive. They found Tramon Savage, 22, in a Ford F-250 inside the building trying to drive away, according to previous reports. The officers repeatedly ordered Savage to get out of the truck, but Savage drove toward the officers, who shot more than a dozen times into the truck.
The truck crashed into a wall in the dealership, and officers began administering first aid to the wound in Savage's shoulder, according to body camera footage released in July.
Savage died after medics transported him to a hospital.
Police Chief John Franklin said July 2 that the officers, whose identities the department has not released, had been cleared of breaking any department policy.
The Pulaski County prosecuting attorney's office wrote a letter to Franklin on Tuesday saying that the officers' actions were justified, Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney John Johnson said.
Jefferson said he understood that the officers felt threatened by the oncoming vehicle and had reacted to that danger. The Jacksonville NAACP spent more than 150 hours independently investigating the shooting and consulted a legal expert about the case, Johnson said.
In a statement, Jefferson said the Jacksonville NAACP "strongly recommends" that the Police Department in the future turn all on-duty shootings over immediately to the Arkansas State Police for investigation, that police officers receive annual implicit-bias and mental-health training, and that the city institute a citizen review board.
Jefferson said forming a citizen review board and turning deadly force cases over to the state police will help the department improve community relationships.
"I think in every department trust is lacking" Jefferson said. "You can do all the community policing you want, but sometimes, especially in the African-American communities, there is a lack of trust in the Police Department. We have to do everything possible to regain that trust."
Mayor Bob Johnson said Thursday that he and Franklin had decided before receiving the NAACP letter to begin turning every deadly-force incident with serious injury over to the Arkansas State Police.
"The chief and I visited about that, and we've decided we're going to do it," the mayor said. "That is our new policy, and it's already in place. We will conduct a parallel investigation in those cases, too."
Jacksonville police Lt. Brett Hibbs said Thursday that officers already undergo annual bias training, and that the department has officers who have completed the Crisis Intervention Training courses. Crisis Intervention Training is a national program that teaches officers how to respond to mental illness and addiction cases, particularly in high-risk situations.
Hibbs said, however, that more mental-health training likely would not have helped the officers at the dealership that night.
"When he's in the truck and the truck is headed toward you, there really isn't a time to talk and use that [training]," Hibbs said, noting that the department had made some small changes in teaching in response to the shooting. "We are reviewing training points, things we could improve and things that could add to our response."
The mayor said he and Franklin are discussing the review board idea but feel that Jacksonville is too small at the moment to need such a board. Jacksonville has a Civil Service Commission, a panel of residents that oversees department appeals, policy changes and promotions.
Jefferson, however, said he believes a citizen review board would provide residents a direct way to voice opinions on department matters.
"We've been pushing for it for a long time throughout this country with the NAACP," Jefferson said. "There is also an education aspect -- so we can learn, and they can learn and build trust. We support the Police Department and the work that they do, but we want to build that relationship."
Jefferson commended the department's transparency in relinquishing documents available under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act and the responding officers for providing medical aid to Savage in the minutes after the shooting.
Metro on 08/16/2019