Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. announced on Monday there will be no disciplinary action against Police Chief Keith Humphrey following complaints from within the police department that triggered a human-resources investigation conducted by an Arkansas Tech University professor.
Scott's announcement came one day after the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that City Manager Bruce Moore had provided the mayor with a report by Loretta Cochran for Scott to make a final determination on discipline.
In a statement included with a press release issued Monday evening, Scott said he received the summary report on Sept. 24 from Moore, "whose thoughtful and deliberate review came after a several months-long investigation by Dr. Loretta Cochran."
He added, "While it is neither customary nor advised to comment on an employee’s personnel record, we will make an exception to conclude this investigation and move forward with the necessary steps to ultimately improve public safety for Little Rock residents."
In his statement, Scott seemed to suggest Cochran's work had been tainted by bias but did not provide further details.
"It is imperative that we avoid any appearance of impropriety or bias in employee investigations, and the investigator’s affiliations and donation to a complainant’s GoFundMe raised serious concerns about the legitimacy of her investigation. Further, the report offered many conclusory statements without actual findings of fact, while misstating or misinterpreting the relevant legal standards, and the evidence provided does not support the complaints filed," Scott said.
Additionally, Scott announced that findings from an outside audit of the police department conducted by the Center for Justice Research and Innovation, which is housed at the nonprofit group CNA, would be presented to members of the city's Board of Directors at a meeting Tuesday.
The mayor's decision in favor of no discipline all but ensures Cochran's findings will not be made public. A decision to suspend or terminate Humphrey following the investigation would have made the records disclosable in response to an Arkansas Freedom of Information Act request.
Read Tuesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for more details.