Split-second decisions weigh on officers

Former Little Rock homicide detective Tommy Hudson
Former Little Rock homicide detective Tommy Hudson

There’s a conference room in Little Rock where police officers cry.

It’s a corner suite on the second floor of the 12th Street Little Rock Police Department substation. Its windows overlook one of the city’s most violent neighborhoods.

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Little Rock Police Chief Kenton Buckner

Officers enter the room unarmed and in plain clothes. They’ve been placed on administrative leave, and their duty weapons are sealed in evidence bags at the state Crime Lab across town.

For the moment, they’re murder suspects.

At a large square table, many weep.

“Some of the toughest guys I see up here, they’re still here now, they break down in this room,” former Little Rock homicide detective Tommy Hudson said.

Statewide, police killed 67 people in the past six years, including 13 in Little Rock, an Arkansas Democrat-Gazette investigation found.

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