Little Rock Police Department

The Little Rock Police Department (LRPD), is the primary law enforcement agency for the Little Rock, Arkansas in the United States.

Little Rock Police Department
Flag of Little Rock, Arkansas
Common name	Little Rock Police Department
Abbreviation	LRPD
Agency overview
Formed	January 20, 1866 [1]
Employees	743 [2]
Annual budget	$80,209,890 (2020)[3]
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction	Little Rock, Arkansas, United States
jurisdiction of Little Rock Police Department
Size	116.8 square miles (303 km^2)
Population	197,881 (2018)
Legal jurisdiction	Little Rock, Arkansas
General nature	Local civilian police
Operational structure
Overviewed by Council	Little Rock Board of Directors
Headquarters	700 W. Markham St. Little Rock, AR 72201
Police Officers	565 (2017)
Civilians	114
Agency executive	Keith Humphrey, Chief of Police
Bureaus	Investigative Bureau Executive Bureau Field Services Bureau
Facilities
Patrol Divisions	Downtown Division Northwest Patrol Southwest Patrol Special Operations Division
Website
Official Site

The current Chief of Police is Colonel Keith Humphrey.

History

In 1831 the Town of Little Rock was incorporated and Dr. Matthew Cunningham won the first mayoral election. In 1835 Little Rock was incorporated as the first City in the Arkansas Territory. The Little Rock Police Department was established in 1866 and in 1892 the first paid Little Rock Fire Department was created.[4]

Rank structure

Rank	Insignia
Chief
Assistant Chief
Captain
Lieutenant
Sergeant
Police Officer

The Little Rock Police Department has various positions for detectives, Field Training Officers, and other mission specific assignments, but these are not considered official ranks by the department.

Organization

The department is organized into a number of divisions.[5] These are:

• Executive Bureau
  • Headquarters
  • Training Division
  • Communications Division
• Investigative Bureau
  • Records and Support Division
  • Major Crimes Division
• Investigative Bureau
  • Special Investigations Division
• Field Services Bureau
  • Special Operations Division
  • Patrol Division
    • Northwest Patrol
    • Southwest Patrol

Fallen officers

Rank	Name	Date of Death	Cause of Death	Age	Location
Officer	William L. Copeland	12-31-1885	Beaten and killed with a blunt object as he questioned a work release prisoner as to why he was in town and not back in jail past his allotted time	N/A	N/A
Police Officer	W.T. Phillips	08-02-1908	Shot and killed while attempting to arrest a drunk man shortly after midnight	22	N/A
Sergeant	William I. Campbell	04-18-1911	Shot and killed by a fellow drunk Officer during an argument	32	N/A
Police Officer	John O. Miller	04-23-1911	Shot and killed while attempting to arrest a man for disturbing the peace	N/A	N/A
Detective	Sam D. Morgan	10-30-1915	Shot and killed with another Officer’s gun during a fight with a man that multiple Officers were attempting to arrest	55	On W 12th Street in Little Rock, Arkansas
Police Officer	Joe Erber	06-06-1920	Shot and killed after arriving on scene to a domestic disturbance call involving a drunk man	59	At a house boat on the Arkansas River near Lincoln Avenue in North Little Rock, Arkansas
Police Officer	Thomas D. Hudson	08-19-1920	Shot and killed after interrupting a burglary in progress	26	Inside a cafe on W 9th Street in Little Rock, Arkansas
Detective Sergeant	John W. Cabiness	08-12-1922	Accidentally shot and killed by a U.S. Marshal who mistook Sergeant Cabiness for a railroad striker that was out to get him	N/A	N/A
Detective Sergeant	George W. Moore	07-24-1923	Shot and killed along with Detective Sergeant Luther C. Hay (who later died on 07-26-1923) after the two men walked in on illegal activities including a dice game; one of the suspects was wanted for the earlier murder of Okmulgee County (OK) Deputy Sheriff John Lung on 09-15-1922	N/A	N/A
Detective Sergeant	Luther C. Hay	07-26-1923	Succumbed to six gunshot wounds sustained on 07-24-1923 after being shot along with Detective Sergeant George W. Moore (who died at the scene) after the two men walked in on illegal activities including a dice game; one of the suspects was wanted for the earlier murder of Okmulgee County (OK) Deputy Sheriff John Lung on 09-15-1922	N/A	N/A
Police Officer	Charles B. Faulkner	07-13-1924	Succumbed to injuries sustained on 07-11-1924 after being in a crash while on his motorcycle after a vehicle pulled out in front of him; Officer Faulkner was responding to a drunken fight at the time	27	N/A
Police Officer	Harvey L. Biggs	07-27-1924	Shot and killed as he and his partner lay in wait for several men that were stealing parts off an abandoned car in a ditch	33	N/A
Police Officer	Frank E. Swilling, Sr.	12-11-1926	Succumbed to injuries sustained the previous day after being struck by a vehicle while on a traffic stop	33	Intersection of 4th Street and Main Street in Little Rock, Arkansas
Police Officer	Robert A. Johnson	03-23-1930	Killed in a crash while on his police motorcycle after being struck by a car	23	Intersection of 3rd Street and Victory Street in Little Rock, Arkansas
Detective Sergeant	Samuel Neal McDermott	09-03-1930	Succumbed to gunshot wounds sustained on 08-27-1930 after being shot while attempting to arrest two out of six escaped prisoners from the Pulaski County Jail	31	Behind the Little Rock National Cemetery in Little Rock, Arkansas
Detective Lieutenant	Oscar F. Deubler	01-01-1947	Shot and killed by a fellow Officer who then committed suicide	32	N/A
Police Officer	Lloyd W. Worthy	09-02-1967	Shot and killed while chasing a man leaving the scene of an abandoned vehicle he stopped to investigate	27	N/A
Police Officer	Alvin Joseph Free	09-27-1970	Killed in a crash while in his patrol car after a vehicle pulled out in front of him as he responded to backup at a domestic disturbance call	22	N/A
Detective	Noel Don McGuire	05-14-1980	Shot and killed by a 15-year-old while on a traffic stop; unknown to Detective McGuire, the 15 y/o and his 16 y/o partner had just committed an armed robbery in the neighboring county	23	N/A
Patrolman	David E. Barnett	02-13-1991	Shot and killed while off-duty as he attempted to stop an armed robbery	33	Inside a Waffle House in Little Rock, Arkansas
Patrolman	Henry Lee Callanen	05-15-1993	Shot and killed while off-duty working his second job at a local McDonald’s; as Patrolman Callanen walked the short distance from McDonald’s to the local bank to make a deposit, he was confronted by two robbers that held him up, leading to a shootout	62	N/A
Detective	Joseph Tucker Fisher	02-07-1995	Shot and killed as he helped serve a narcotics warrant at an apartment complex; Detective Frederick Lee was also shot in the head but survived	34	In an apartment complex on Butler Road in Little Rock, Arkansas
Police Officer	Jack David Cooper	02-02-2002	Succumbed to gunshot wounds sustained the previous day after being shot by a man he responded to due to complaining of vampires	34	N/A
K9	Titus	07-15-2015	Died from heat exhaustion following a fairly long foot pursuit of a suspect wanted for breaking into vehicles	N/A	N/A

Misconduct

In January 2011, Officer Jason Gilbert and two other officers from nearby agencies were indicted for a conspiracy to rob an armored car.[6] The charges included a failed September 10, 2007 attempt to rob an armored car. In March 2012, Gilbert was sentenced to three and a half years in prison.[7]

In February 2011, Officer Rick Harmon was arrested for drunk driving.[8]

SWAT operation

In early 2019, press reports indicated that the department serves all search warrants with a SWAT unit. Most drug-related warrants are "no-knock," meaning the police can use explosives to enter a home without warning.[9]

Josh Hastings

In September 2012, Officer Josh Hastings was charged with manslaughter in the shooting death of fifteen-year-old Bobby Moore. According to the charging documents, Moore was shot in the head as he was backing away from the officer trying to flee in a stolen car.[10] Officer Hastings had been on the force for five years and had been suspended six times previously.[11][12] In April, 2014, after two deadlocked juries, charges were dropped as prosecutors said no jury was willing to convict Hastings. He had been fired from his job, but his lawyer said he would take steps to return to the department.[13] Later investigation revealed that Hastings was hired in spite of internal objections of Hastings having once attended a Ku Klux Klan meeting and lying about it on his application.[11] During his tenure at LRPD, Hastings used force an estimated 63 times and collected over 30 disciplinary citations, for actions such as "sleeping on the job, abusive language, failure to file reports, failure to appear in court, failure to notify authorities of a dead body, conduct unbecoming an officer, insubordination, and untruthfulness", as well as reckless driving.[11]

References

1. "Little Rock Budget" (PDF). Little Rock Police Department. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
2. "Little Rock Budget" (PDF). Little Rock Police Department. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
3. "Little Rock Budget" (PDF). Little Rock Police Department. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
4. Official Website, accessed 9 September 2014
5. "Divisions". Little Rock Police Department. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
6. Little Rock Men Indicted in Armored Car Heist; Conspiracy, by Nichelle Sullivan, KARK, January 4, 2011
7. Police officer, 3 others sentenced in armored car robbery, Fox16.com, 26 March 2012
8. Rick Harmon, Little Rock police officer, arrested for DUI, KTHV, 22 February 2011
9. Balko, adley (1 March 2019). "Internal memo suggests Little Rock police serve every search warrant with a SWAT team". Washington Post. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
10. Little Rock Police Officer charged with manslaughter, KLRT and the AP, 7 September 2012
11. Balko, Radley (November 2, 2018). "'If you don't get at that rot, you just get more officers like Josh Hastings'". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 5, 2018.
12. Seigle, Max (September 5, 2012). "LRPD officer Josh Hastings has 6 suspensions in 5 years". KTHV. Retrieved November 5, 2018.
13. Lesnick, Gavin (April 7, 2014). "Charges against Hastings dismissed before third trial". Arkansas Online. Retrieved November 5, 2018.