Three assistant chiefs will serve one month each as the Little Rock Police Department’s interim chief until the department finds its new head.
A memo sent by City Manager Bruce Moore to all Little Rock Police Department personnel states that the process to select a new chief officially began Tuesday.
Moore estimated that advertising the position, interviewing candidates and selecting a new chief would take approximately 90 days.
Current Police Chief Kenton Buckner accepted a job to lead the Syracuse, N.Y., Police Department earlier this month. His last day on the job in Little Rock will be Friday.
Per Moore’s memo, Assistant Chief Alice Fulk will serve as interim chief from Saturday to Dec. 17. Assistant Chief Hayward Finks will serve from Dec. 18 to Jan. 18, and Assistant Chief Wayne Bewley will serve from Jan. 19 to Feb. 19.
Finks and Fulk previously told a Democrat-Gazette reporter that they were “undecided” on whether to make a bid for police chief. Bewley said it was “very unlikely” he would apply for the position.
Little Rock will have a new mayor come Jan. 1, but outgoing Mayor Mark Stodola said in an interview last week that he and Moore planned to begin a national search for a new chief and put out an advertisement before the year’s end.
“I mean, word will get out before the end of the year that we’ve got an opening,” Stodola said.
Read Wednesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.