HOT SPRINGS -- The committee the Hot Springs Police Department formed to bolster recruiting met for the first time last week.
Recent recruiting drives haven't turned out applicants in numbers needed to fill 10 to 12 vacancies in the 115 uniformed positions budgeted for 2022, including five partially funded by the U.S. Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Services grant the city was awarded last year.
"We've hit a wall in our recruiting efforts," Police Chief Chris Chapmond told the Civil Service Commission last week. "We are recruiting a younger generation, and, to be honest with you, I don't have the answers any more.
"We have put together a good group of young men and women from the civilian and uniformed side. We are going to implement their ideas within the next several weeks. We've got to do something different to reach the men and women of our community."
The two-month recruiting drive for the special testing session the commission authorized in March netted 10 applicants, eight of whom took physical and written tests May 21. All eight passed and were interviewed and ranked by the commission. Chapmond said background checks were being conducted and interviews with command staff will be held in a few weeks.
He said the background check disqualifies about 90% of applicants.
"There's several good candidates," he told the commission. "It's not enough to fill the vacant positions, but I do believe there's some very qualified young men in there."
Certified law enforcement officers, or those certified before next June, will receive the $5,000 one-time stipend authorized by Act 224, which the Legislature passed earlier this year. The consent agenda the Hot Springs Board of Directors will consider Tuesday night includes a resolution authorizing the police department to apply for and accept the stipends.
Chapmond and Fire Chief Ed Davis gave reports to the commission.
Chapmond said two officers placed on administrative leave after the May 12 shooting at the Hot Springs Convention Center returned to work last week.
Charles Johnson Jr., 25, was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Michael Jordan, 39, and three counts of first-degree battery in the shooting of three victims who suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Hot Springs police were among the agencies that responded to a fight after the Hot Springs World Class High School graduation. A man later identified as Johnson began shooting as officers were breaking up the fight.
"We engaged the suspect and returned fire," Chapmond said.
Johnson was treated at a local hospital for multiple gunshot wounds.
The department is renewing its accreditation through the Arkansas Association of Chiefs of Police. It was the first AACP-accredited agency.
"It's allowed us to review our policies and update them," Chapmond said. "We've reviewed more than 20 and made some sort of changes to update them."
The department's new drones have arrived. A budget adjustment the city board adopted in March provided $50,000 for the drone program. Chapmond said the drones will be used to track suspects and at special events and critical incidents.
Sean Willits, the department's peer recovery specialist, received an advanced certificate. Chapmond said Willits made 241 contacts last month and sent 18 people to recovery.
"Every person we can send to recovery is a potential person we're not dealing with on the street who's fighting an addiction, who's committing a crime to support that addiction," he said.
Chapmond said the department seized a large number of fentanyl pills earlier this month.
"Those pills could potentially kill any individual that took them," he said of the synthetic opioid linked to numerous overdose deaths.
Chapmond is serving on the Arkansas School Safety Commission. He said the panel is meeting three times a week and will present its report to the governor in August.
Davis said the fire department is using a cooling trailer to fight heat exhaustion at fire scenes.