A Little Rock assistant police chief and a longtime Fort Smith officer are among the top three candidates to take over the Fort Smith Police Department, city officials said recently.
Little Rock police Assistant Chief Alice Fulk is one of the candidates, said Karen Santos, Fort Smith's communications manager.
Others among the top three candidates are Fort Smith interim Chief Danny Baker and Andy Harvey, police chief in Palestine, Texas. Each of the three will interview in Fort Smith on Sept. 16, but there is no timeline for when a new chief will be named, Santos said.
Former Police Chief Nathaniel Clark submitted a letter of resignation March 24 and left office April 8, Santos said. Clark was hired as Fort Smith's police chief about two years ago. On March 27, the Forest Park Police Department in Georgia announced Clark as its police chief.
Santos said 28 candidates applied to for the position by June 13, the application deadline. The city administrator will choose a new chief with input from the mayor and Board of Directors.
Fort Smith, the second-largest city in Arkansas, has a population of approximately 89,000 and a police force of 164 officers. The new chief will earn approximately $112,000 annually.
Fulk is nearing her 28th year as an officer of the Little Rock Police Department and said she would be excited to take the helm in Fort Smith.
"I recently had the opportunity to go out and see the community and their officers," Fulk said. "It's a great community, and I know have some good, talented people."
Fulk said she's been a supervisor over almost every unit of the Police Department over the past 16 years.
"I think a lot of the work I've done in Little Rock, I could take it and apply it there," Fulk said. "My point is, I think I'm going to bring the most well-rounded experience."
Fulk, who oversees approximately 430 employees in Little Rock, said she understands that Fort Smith is facing a hiring and retention problem.
Fort Smith has 10 vacancies and approximately 25 officers currently in training and who are not out on the streets, Capt. Wes Milam said last week.
"That's a problem facing almost every police department," Fulk said. "But Fort Smith, they have a strong foundation with the community, and my biggest goal would be to build on that foundation."
Fulk said she would want to ensure the department is following intelligence-led policing, reviewing existing policies and training, and making sure "that Fort Smith continues to move the needle forward in being a top-notch agency."
Fulk said that if she's hired, it would hard to leave Little Rock, where she's worked since she began her career in 1992.
"There are definitely parts of it I will miss if I were selected," Fulk said. "I'll say that."
Fulk has a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and a master's in human resource management from Webster University, according to application materials.
THE LOCAL CANDIDATE
Baker grew up in Sebastian County and has 21 years of law enforcement experience, with 18 of those in Fort Smith. He has served as the interim chief since Clark's departure.
"This is more than a job to me. I really feel it's a calling," Baker said Friday. "I'm passionate about this job and this city. This department needs some strong leadership and someone who understands where we've come from, where we've been and where we're going."
Baker said the Fort Smith Police Department has begun transitioning into a community-oriented, 21st-century department.
"I have a clear vision of where we need to go and keeping the momentum with the department," Baker said. "That's the biggest reason I guess that I'd say I need to be the next chief in Fort Smith. It would be easy for me to go back and be the deputy chief, to go back to what's comfortable and easy. ... But in the interest of the department and this community, I think God has led me there for a reason."
Alongside building community relationships, Baker said he wants to build better connections to other city departments. Too often, Baker said, departments have to vie for funding and other needs.
"A cooperative relationship will be one of my top priorities in the long run," he said. "Fort Smith is the biggest thing in the area, so what we do, what Fort Smith PD does, sets the tone for everything around us. Let's approach this as a team from every angle. We all have different needs, but let's work toward the same goal."
In his time as interim chief, Baker said, he has laid the groundwork for a mental health crisis intervention unit that will in part serve the city's rising homeless population.
"If we're going to be more than law enforcement, we have to have officers who can some way intervene for people in mental crisis," Baker said. "We have to actually take steps to try to solve the problem, not just push it down the road. Just arresting these people, it's not helping anybody."
Baker said he plans to remain with the department regardless of who fills the chief's position.
"I'm not a professional chief. I'm not an executive, or a politician. I'm a Fort Smith police officer," Baker said. "If I'm called to be here, then I'll be what this organization needs. That's my commitment, and nothing about that is going to change."
Baker graduated from Northeastern State University with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice with a law enforcement emphasis.
OUT-OF-STATE HOPEFUL
Harvey, the only candidate from out of state, is currently the chief of Palestine, Texas, a city of approximately 18,000. Before that he was a major in the Dallas Police Department.
Harvey said his particular mixture of large- and small-town policing would aid him in Fort Smith.
"My wife and I ... we really want this to be a long-term commitment," Harvey said. "We just fell in love with the city. That's what's driving us for Fort Smith. I know I can go and add value to that city."
Harvey has been a police officer for 23 years between Dallas and Palestine, and said he is a community-oriented chief who would look to engage with all of Fort Smith's residents.
"Being the chief of police, you can't replace the experience of being a chief of police in a department," Baker said. "When you're a chief, there is no safety net, and I have that experience. I took this [Palestine] department from very stagnant and outdated to what I am proud to call a 21st-century department."
Harvey said he would make no major changes to the department until he had time to fully familiarize himself into the culture and practices there.
"The first goal is to really look at what Chief Clark did and then take it to the next level," Harvey said. "But the officers need stability in leadership, and it's always tough when there's a change in leadership. I would want them to know that we keep going and keep progressing."
Harvey graduated with a bachelor of applied arts and sciences degree in 2005, a master's in criminal justice in 2012 and a doctorate in philosophy of Christian leadership in 2019.
Metro on 09/08/2019