A Pine Bluff police detective who was fired after an altercation in a Pine Bluff business Oct. 29 asked the city's three member Uniform Appeal Committee on Tuesday to give her a second chance during an appeal hearing to review the circumstances of her dismissal.
Former detective Veranita Burns was fired in late October after an altercation that turned physical with a woman she said was dating Burns' estranged husband, with whom Burns said she was going through divorce proceedings.
During the altercation, Burns admitted to having damaged the woman's cellphone, thrown her purse to the floor and damaged a vase that belonged to the business, described as a local nail shop.
Burns told the committee members -- Dominique Lane, Gina Divers and Sharon Johnson -- that the woman had been harassing her, and said the woman had called her from her husband's phone and cursed at her on at least one occasion.
On another occasion, Burns said, her own 15-year-old son had called Burns and said the woman was trying to get into Burns' house, claiming to be homeless.
She said the woman had also made disparaging remarks about Burns' mother, who she said died in February.
Burns said the Oct. 5 death of detective Kevin Collins had also affected her to a great degree.
She said on Oct. 29, she had gone to have her nails done after getting off work at 4:30 that afternoon.
"I went to the nail shop to pamper myself because I'd been through a lot after [Collins'] death," she said. Burns said she was the first officer on the scene Oct. 5 after Collins and another officer were shot while approaching a murder suspect at the Econo Lodge Motel in Pine Bluff.
She told the committee that the woman entered the nail shop as Burns was getting her nails done, and the two exchanged words.
"I point at her and told her she was wrong to say what she did about my mother," Burns told the committee.
As that was going on, she said, two of Burns' cousins walked into the shop, and one of them grabbed Burns and tried to remove her from the property.
"I guess my anger took over," she said.
Throughout the hearing, Burns was contrite, apologizing several times for her actions that day.
"I'm not trying to say the termination was wrong," Burns said.
"The chief has a job to do, but I do feel like I deserve a second chance."
Police Chief Kelvin Sergeant told the committee that in his view, Burns had already been given a second chance.
He said Burns, who had been on the force for three years and had been a detective for six months, was suspended three times in 2019 and had been warned that any further disciplinary problems could lead to her termination.
"I don't believe I had any other choice than to take this action," Sergeant said, "based on the incident and past history."
One incident in 2019 that led to a suspension, Sergeant said, occurred when Burns, a patrol officer at the time, confronted a suspect at an Ohio Street residence who was wielding a stick and kept officers at bay while he stood on his porch and yelled insults at them.
"At some point, she snatched off her jacket and ran up to the guy to fight him," Sergeant said, adding that she had to be restrained after she refused her superior's order to return to her patrol car.
"I felt that conduct was very inappropriate," Sergeant told the committee. "I asked her what she was going to do, and she said she was going to fight him."
Under questioning by the committee, Burns admitted to having anger management issues dating back to her childhood and that she had gone to counseling twice in 2019 after two incidents that led to suspensions.
She said she voluntarily sought counseling in February of this year after the death of her mother.
"I was having trouble coping with that," she said.
"Do you believe your anger is something you can control going forward as an officer?" Lane asked.
"I do believe I can deal with my anger moving forward," Burns replied.
Lane asked what assurances Burns could give regarding steps she might take to keep her anger issues under control.
"I will continue to seek counseling for my anger management issues," Burns said.
"I'll talk to people more and seek help from my supervisors."
Asked if she felt like she was out of control during the altercation Oct. 29, Burns said, "yes."
Committee members referred to a video of the incident, which purportedly showed Burns being restrained by other people as she attempted to strike the woman.
"I would say that I was the aggressor," Burns admitted.
"I wanted to hurt her as much as I hurt."
Asked why she should have a second chance, Burns said she loved the job and believed that she was a good officer.
"I do good work, and I don't have any problems with the people I work with," she said. "There's officers I feel like have done way worse than I have, and they were given a second chance."
The panel asked Sergeant if he thought Burns could do a good job and have the trust and respect of the community if she were returned to duty.
"Prior to this, she was a good officer. Could she come back and do her job? I think she could," Sergeant said.
"But the loss of respect from the community and the bad example it would set for other officers would be damaging."
Johnson asked Burns how many therapy sessions she had attended, to which Burns said she had been to one session over the period of a month.
"I felt like I was getting better," she told Johnson. "That situation of me going through a divorce and this woman picking at me and trying to keep me from having any communication with my husband, we're all human."
Burns' voice trailed off, then she said she had been devastated by Collins' death.
"I'm not that officer that people see on that video," she said, her voice breaking.
"It seems like this latest incident is due to a traumatic incident happening in your life," Lane said to Burns.
"Unfortunately, life is filled with those types of incidents if we live long enough. Going forward, do you think you can cope with those types of incidents?"
Burns said she would continue counseling and continue working on anger management issues.
Lane said the committee would make a determination on the matter and issue a report to the city Human Resources Department within 10 days.