Jacksonville leaders have agreed to never again hire a person who is not a law enforcement officer to be the city's police chief, according to a settlement in a lawsuit reached with five police officers.
Five Jacksonville officers -- Kelly Smiley, Robert Washington, Robert Slash, Cynthia Harbour and Cassie Blackerby -- sued the city after the previous mayor, Gary Fletcher, gave the job to the city attorney, Robert Bamburg. Fletcher and Bamburg have since left elected office.
According to the settlement, the city pledges to "not appoint a non-law enforcement officer to the position of chief of police, or to the position of the head administrator of the police department except as provided under Arkansas law."
The settlement states that the defendants agree to drop all remaining claims and defenses, according to the court document filed Tuesday in Pulaski County Circuit Court.
"In agreeing to this order, we believe the current administration has demonstrated far greater wisdom than the previous administration in this matter and consider it a victory for the men and women of the Jacksonville Police Department and the citizens of this great city," Smiley said in a statement.
The new mayor, Bob Johnson, took office in January.
The current city attorney, Stephanie Friedman, said she thought the agreement satisfied both parties.
"I think it's a good compromise on both sides," she said.
She said she thought the agreement would allow the city to heal from the controversy that surrounded the position for the past few years. The department's officers have had three chiefs, a personnel shake-up and a complex, contentious relationship with city leaders.
Last year, the city hired as chief John Franklin, a 28-year veteran of the Chicago department, who replaced Bamburg in overseeing the Police Department. Bamburg left the position in June 2018.
Fletcher had appointed Bamburg to the position after the Arkansas Supreme Court found that Geoffrey Herweg could not hold the job because he was convicted in 2002 of making a false report while serving as a police officer in Texas, according to previous Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports.
Franklin, the current police chief, has said that since taking office he has worked hard to gain the police officers' trust. He spoke with the department's officers and administrators early on about starting fresh, he said.
"I told them, 'whatever feelings you have or had against the last administration, I want all of that buried,'" Franklin said. "I think the first meeting made a lot of difference with the supervisors. From there, it's been a lot of conversations, trust-building, feeling people out for ideas."
Metro on 05/31/2019