HELENA-WEST HELENA -- Three homicides in two days last month have prompted talk among city officials about instituting a 24-hour curfew in high-crime neighborhoods.
The move would give police wide latitude to stop and investigate anyone found outside in those areas, officials say. The idea has been considered by Mayor Kevin Smith and Police Chief James Smith as a way to address the recent spike in violent crime in the historic city on the banks of the Mississippi River.
Chief Smith said in an interview last month that he intended to put the issue on the City Council agenda at the meeting on Tuesday. But the city is postponing a decision for the time being.
"It's still on the table," Mayor Smith said Tuesday. "If we decide to do it, we'll change a few things up. There were some aspects of the earlier curfew that were constitutionally suspect. I believe we can change it up enough that it won't be skirting the Constitution."
But, he said, one problem with implementing such a measure right now has to do with the lack of facilities in which to hold people who get arrested as the result of increased police activity.
"We're building a jail, but it's not open yet," Mayor Smith said. "And any adults we arrest will have to be placed somewhere but we just don't have the money."
The city has a curfew for young people in place currently that requires people under the age of 18 who are out between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays to be accompanied by an adult 21 years old or older.
Mayor Smith said Tuesday afternoon that he and the police chief agreed that they don't currently need to implement a more stringent type of curfew, adding he had no plans to discuss it at the City Council meeting later that evening because of the constitutional questions that have been raised.
Instead, he said, the city can concentrate on high-crime areas using existing laws in addition to continuing the use of additional support from outside law enforcement agencies and increasing training for officers. The mayor added that authorities have worked to resolve the homicides that initially spurred the curfew discussion.
"That doesn't mean we can't reserve the right to do something more dramatic if needed," he said. "More as a way to let people know that we're serious."
According to the mayor, "the loss of life" is the most likely scenario that would cause officials to reconsider implementation of a curfew, and that, as an executive order, the authorities wouldn't need to consult with the city if they decided to put such a plan into action.
"We'll just do it if we do it," he said.
Chief Smith said if a 24-hour curfew were to be implemented, it would be the result of an executive order by the mayor, and would be implemented in specific neighborhoods that would be designated "saturation zones." He said currently the question has been put before the Arkansas Municipal League to determine the constitutionality of such a measure.
"When we had these saturation zones in 2008, the ACLU sued the city and we backed down," he said.
Holly Dickson, interim director of the ACLU Arkansas chapter, said the organization is closely watching the situation as it develops in Helena-West Helena.
"A 24-hour curfew would effectively put everyone under house arrest," Dickson said. "It's like declaring martial law and that's unacceptable."
Chief Smith said such a move would give police discretion to stop any motor vehicle or pedestrian in the saturation zone to investigate a given individual or group, possibly leading to arrests.
"We don't want to hinder people's movements, but based on our crime statistics, most of our criminal activity is coming from the West Helena area, and we've got to be able to address that," he said. "We've got organized gang and drug activity going on, and I believe the people involved in this gang activity are in a war."
On Oct. 18 at 10:55 a.m. police responded to a call about a shooting near Park and Dinan streets, according to a news release by the Police Department, where they found 20-year-old Jamarius Reese lying face-down with several gunshot wounds in his back. Reese was pronounced dead at the scene.
Less than an hour later, officers were dispatched to Sixth Street and Garland Avenue for a second shooting. Around 11:48 a.m., police discovered Donameka Ballard, 24, lying on his back with a gunshot in his chest, according to authorities. Ballard also was pronounced dead at the scene.
The next night, police found a third victim inside a vehicle that rolled into a ditch at North Third Street and East Baldwin Avenue, according to a news release by the department.
The man, 27-year-old Antwon Mooney, was transported to Helena Regional Medical Center where he later died, police said.
Tyranza Young, 19, Kylan Williams, 21, and Tre'von Hill, 19, are being held in the slaying of Ballard.
About 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, according to Mayor Smith, Tavoris Avance, who was wanted in Reese's slaying, surrendered to Chief Smith.
"He was in Conway with his girlfriend," Chief Smith said Tuesday night. "I sent U.S. marshals to his location to pick him up and bring him back."
The chief said Avance called him earlier in the day and asked to surrender to him. As of Tuesday night, Chief Smith said Avance was talking to investigators about the killing of Reese.
"Based on the information he has provided, we believe he is the shooter," he said.
State Desk on 11/06/2019