The mayor of Jonesboro issued a statement Monday assuring the public that changes would be made to the way the police department handles informing residents.
The planned changes come after a weekend of admonishment from local media outlets.
Mayor Harold Perrin said in a news release that the city must address a perception problem its police department has gained over the past few days after information about a shooting of a police dog was released a week after the incident.
"Unfortunately, a perception has developed that our police department is not fully transparent," Perrin said. "This has come to my attention through conversations with our residents, but also in opinions expressed by our local news media, KAIT-TV and The Sun newspaper."
Bill Campbell, spokesman for the city, said the mayor was unaware that a police dog was shot by an officer last month, and he talked to the police chief about the issue on Monday morning.
"We realized that there is an error in not reporting the incident and that we couldn't sit back and have attacks on our police department," Campbell said. "We also acknowledged that perception could become reality if we don't speak up."
Perrin said the communication breach between the police department and the public has caused officials to immediately take steps to reevaluate and if necessary update interdepartmental communication protocols.
"Step 1 is that I have instructed that from here forward, all incident reports will be available to the public via the Jonesboro Police website, JonesboroPolice.com," Perrin said in a news release. "This is a small change, but it's an effort to ensure the public understands what JPD and your city government does and why we do it."
Campbell said there isn't a set date for the system to go into effect.
Police Chief Rick Elliott acknowledges recent events have given the public a possible negative perception of the department.
"I remain confident in our practice of releasing initial reports without ongoing investigative information, as all our legal counsel has supported," Elliott said. "But I believe this incident, and the missteps that followed it, deserve and demand a review of our communications practices."
The mayor's comments come after the Jonesboro Police Department released a statement Thursday that mentioned a police department dog was shot by an officer last month in an incident at a shooting range.
Dog handler Jason Myers and his partner, Rocket, were on the parking lot at the range, and after the dog got out of a vehicle, gunfire started on the range, according to the release. Officers said Rocket was not leashed and ran toward the area where shots had been fired.
Police said officer John Porbeck noticed Rocket running toward him, heard commands from Myers and was able to dodge the dog. Officers said the dog ran toward Porbeck again and Porbeck fired his weapon, striking the dog.
The dog, who didn't suffer life-threatening injuries and is expected to make a complete recovery, will return to duty with no long-term effects.
Sally Smith, spokesman for the Jonesboro Police Department, said the public information office was alerted to a report that had been created April 30 and put on administrative lockdown because it was an internal investigation.
The incident came to light in an article published by NEA Report, an online news site in northeast Arkansas.
Local media outlets criticized the timing of the release, including the regional newspaper, The Sun, which made allegations that the department attempted to cover up the shooting.
Editor Chris Wessel, writer of an editorial that prompted the response from officials at the police department and the city, declined to comment on the mayor's statement.
Elliott, the police chief, said in a joint news release with the mayor that the department doesn't regularly release information about active internal investigations, but this incident should have been treated differently.
"We know the public's appreciation and concern for our K-9 team, as well as the expectation of transparency," Elliott said. "I find it personally and professionally embarrassing because it furthers the perception of some in our community, including The Sun newspaper, which has alleged an unfounded conspiracy theory that the mayor, city attorney and I have schemed to hide police reports from the public. Nothing could be further from the truth."
Campbell called the incident a "mistake" made by the police department.
"The community showed a lot of love to our K-9 unit in the past," Campbell said. "We are trying to make sure protocols are in place to make sure the public is informed. The incident involving the police department is public information. It belongs to the public."
State Desk on 05/14/2019