Little Rock Chief of Police Stuart Thomas promoted two captains to the rank of assistant chief Thursday, one more than was advertised, in a move he said is necessary to manage the 80 new officers he plans to hire within a year.
Thomas said the additionof two assistant chiefs, raising the total to three, along with the promotion of three lieutenants to captain, puts the department command staff at levels it hasn’t had since April 2011, and will likely outlast him in a newly structured department that is expecting an influx of revenue from a voter-approved 1 percentage point sales-taxincrease the city started collecting in January.
“Our mission hasn’t changed but our tactics have,” Thomas said. “And I went with what I believed to be the best management team given on the [promotion] list.”
Assistant chief Wayne Bewley, formerly the captain over the downtown divisionand the man Thomas picked as acting assistant chief when Carlos Corbin retired, will head the Field Services Bureau, which oversees the city’s downtown, southwest and northwest divisions, as well as the communications division.
Assistant chief Hayward Finks, formerly the captain over the special investigations division, will take over the Investigative and Support Bureau, which oversees major crime investigations, headquarters, training and the special investigations divisions.
In earlier reports, Thomas said he was unsure if there was a need for a third chief.
When hit with assistantchief David Rowan’s retirement in April 2011, as well as budget constraints, Thomas chose to “absorb” the position and divide the work between assistant chiefs Eric Higgins and Corbin, who retired Dec. 1.
In interviews about the recent promotion process, Thomas said he was moreconcerned about getting a second assistant chief and still hadn’t made up his mind on when he might seek a third assistant chief.
The city’s human resources department posted only one opening for assistant chief, but Thomas said he left Rowan’s vacancy on the books so he could fill it if he needed to.
On Thursday, when asked if the department could afford three supervisors who can make anywhere from $80,000 to $120,000 a year, Thomas said he wanted to have a full command staff to oversee an anticipated employment of 80 new officers over the next year.
“To a certain extent, [the department] is probably a little top-heavy, given the number of vacancies [at lower levels],” Thomas said. “But we’ve operated [with three assistant chiefs] for many years, and as I looked at where we were going and the assistance I needed at that level ... [three assistant chiefs] will make all lives a little better.”
Thomas pointed out that he tried to offset the cost of the third assistant chief by eliminating the need for a ninth captain position when he dissolved the Special Operations Division earlier in the year.
City Manager Bruce Moore did not return a message for comment.
Thomas’ picks came after the Civil Service Commission voted 3-1 to certify promotions lists and sent them to Thomas, who could pick from the top three scoring candidates.
At their June 18 meeting, the commission froze the process after receiving a complaint from the Black Police Officers Association that said the city human resources department’s handling of hiring and promotion procedures was tainted by “incompetence” and the perception of “favoritism.”
On Tuesday, city human resources officials met with association representatives and offered solutions to some of the technical concerns that were raised and on Thursday, despite protestations from the association’s attorney that the promotions were too “muddied” by error to be fair, recommended the commissionmove the promotion process forward.
The two new assistant chiefs will join Higgins, the senior assistant chief, who is now the head of the department’s executive bureau, and will be point man to fill in for Thomas.
While Thomas said he was satisfied with the speedy selection, the results weren’t met with enthusiasm from others in the department.
Capt. Alice Fulk, who joined the department in 1992, placed second on the assistant chief list, behind Bewley.
Finks was selected over her, a choice that she said “disappointed” her and sendsa bad message to women in the department and women considering careers in law enforcement.
“There is a big glass ceiling,” Fulk said. “If I were a young, female officer ... watching the actions that happened, I would think my upward mobility was limited [in Little Rock].”
Fulk said the department has never had a woman in the assistant chief ’s office and, to her knowledge, a woman captain has never made the top three of the promotional list.
Although she said she is “confident” that Finks and Bewley will make great assistant chiefs, she thinks the city, and Thomas, missed an opportunity to make good on its often-stated desire to have a diverse department that is a true reflection of the city.
“The message it sends to me is [as a female lawenforcement professional] I’m going to run into a glass ceiling,” Fulk said. “I was shocked that the city had an opportunity to actually take advantage and bring a female to the table, which adds so much diversity to the top level ... and it trickles all the way down.”
Fulk, who holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and a master’s in human resources management, said women account for roughly half of the city, yet they only account for 17 percent of the department’s 496 sworn officers.
According to department statistics, 18 percent of patrol officers are women, but only three of the department’s 30 lieutenants are women.
The fact that there are now only two women in the department’s 12-person command staff is a disgrace, according to assistant chief candidate Capt. Patricia Smith.
“The message it sends [women] is you’re never good enough,” Smith said. “It’s a good ol’ boy club and the only way to the top is to be in the good ol’ boy club.”
It’s not unheard of for a chief to pass someone over on a list and Thomas said it’s his prerogative to pick the candidates he thinks will work out best.
Thomas said he values diversity and that his department is more diverse than the national average, and added that his selection of Finks over Fulk is not a slight against women.
“There’s no glass ceiling and there’s no reclusion or exclusion or requirement one way or the other,” Thomas said. “I’m sympathetic [for Fulk and Smith] ... but I made a decision, it’s not based on any demographic, it’s my own assessment.”
Among the three lieutenants promoted to captain was Terry Hastings, who as the lead department spokesman for the past 18 years, became the face and voice of the department.
Hastings will take over the city’s southwest division.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 11 on 06/29/2012